


Into the Twoieverse

by flynnaw00



Series: Time Travel Saga [2]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, It's Sweet I Promise, steven basically gets 8 new brothers and theyre all him but not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:00:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26635492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flynnaw00/pseuds/flynnaw00
Summary: Every decision in our lives impacts who we are as a person and where we end up. The person we are today could be completely different if just one thing had changed.So what happens when time travel goes awry, and Steven ends up meeting several other versions of himself from different timelines?
Series: Time Travel Saga [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2006848
Comments: 121
Kudos: 175





	1. Meet Your Stevens

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Into the Universe](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22139770) by [flynnaw00](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flynnaw00/pseuds/flynnaw00). 



> This is probably gonna make no sense if you aren't already following the shit on sutimetravelau.tumblr.com HOWEVER you can just jump into this with no context I promise!!! btw most stevens started off as jokes/designs then given backstories so if ur wondering why I decided on making one have a shit ton of tattooes or whatever... I promise, I'm wondering the same thing. Just roll with it. 
> 
> Also, okay, about this series...
> 
> Currently I have three seasons planned for ITT. But just like with a real TV show, you gotta support it if you want more. This isn't me begging for comments or whatever (though comments are going to be the main source of support) but me wanting our hard work to be appreciated. Especially Pixel, who's doing all the comic work in their free time. I REALLY, REALLY, want this story to come to fruition, so please support this by leaving a comment or sending an ask to my inbox on tumblr. Basically just tell me what you think! Even if it's something simple like "I loved this!" or "this part was good" it still helps. 
> 
> TLDR; show ur support if you like this *please.* We consume ur comments and asks for power.

“Sniffling Croissant! You really know me, internet.” Steven chuckled. He looked up from his phone. “Hey, guys!”

His dad didn’t look up from his van, wrenching the engine. “Yeah, Steven?”

“You guys should take this online quiz I found! It tells you.. What..” He trailed off as Pearl grabbed a tool from beside him. He got up from his tire seat, getting tired of sitting on it. “It um- tells you what character you are from crying breakfast friends!!”

“Eh.. why?” Pearl asked, quirking a brow.

“It’s just fun to see yourself as a cartoon character! Like weeping egg cup, who’s neurotic and uptight.. Or pining Grapefruit, the sensitive older one who wishes he was a better role model!” 

Greg smiled weakly. “Uh- maybe we can do that thing after we fix the van..”

Steven sighed as he watched his guardians go back to fixing the van. “Okay..” He turned around, heading back to the temple. “I’ll just find someone else!”

Steven ran up to the steps and opened the door, looking around for Garnet or Amethyst. He was sure they’d at least humour him. He wanted to know what they got!

“Hey, Steven, is there any more engine oil? I need it for this sandwich.”

Steven frowned.

“Uh.. I think that’s for cars.”

“Well, is there any more of it?”

Steven frowned. Could gems eat engine oil? Could he ?

“Uh.” He focused on their conversation. “Dad’s probably got some outside.. But! Oh! You gotta take this online quiz!” He held up the phone proudly. “Which Crying Breakfast friend are you?”

Amethyst sat down. “That show’s.. Really weird. Who wants to watch a show about people crying?”

Steven whined. “I do!”

“Okay, okay! What’s the first question?”

Steven smiled, looking down at his phone to read off the questions. He went through each one, and each one Amethyst answered the opposite of what he thought she would say. He’d only lived with Amethyst for a few years, but he was sure she wasn’t an uptight overthinker..

After the fourth question, she gave up.

“I’m bored.” She smirked, hopping off of her stool. Steven whined and watched her start to walk towards the temple door.

“Wait!” He called. “I have loads more probing personal questions to--”

Suddenly, he heard a loud, shimmering, swirling, noise behind him. Both him and Amethyst turned around and watched as a young teenage boy wearing a pink jacket fell out of a blue portal face first, slamming into the floor with a thud and groaning.

“Whoa..” Amethyst gaped, grabbing her whip out of her gem. “What the heck..?”

Steven blinked a few times, then rubbed his eyes. “Um.. is.. Is this normal? What’s..”

The teenager started to slowly get up and Steven backed up behind Amethyst, wishing he could summon his shield right now. He was a bit better at it than before, but it was still a very precise thing. 

“Nngh..” The teen sat up, rubbing his face and picking out a few splinters. Steven gasped softly. He kinda looked like him..

“Hey!” Amethyst yelled, gripping her whip harder. The teen met her eyes and blinked a few times.

“Oh! Uh.. hey, Amethyst.. Sorry, I.. sorry, I messed w.. Wait.” He squinted. “Why are you.. Dressed like that?”

“What? Dude, how do you know me? Also, rude! I look great!” Amethyst growled.

“How do- what?? We’re family? I’ve lived with you for the past-” He chuckled awkwardly and got up. “What? Like.. 5 years?”

“Family..?” Amethyst frowned. “I don’t.. Know you.”

Steven peeked out from behind Amethyst. Was.. this like.. His brother? A weird brother he had no idea he had..?

The teen looked hurt. “Amethyst.. I- uh..” They met eyes.

Steven waved nervously. Amethyst pushed him behind her.

The teen paled. “Oh. Oh God . Oh, no!!” He started to breathe faster. “Amethyst! Oh god, I- I think I’m in the past!!”

“Stop saying things that don’t make sense!!”

“I’m Steven Universe! From the future! I was messing with your time thing and then.. I guess I’m here!” He looked around on the floor for something. Steven gasped and jumped out from behind Amethyst. “You’re me from the future?? Like.. like with the Time Glass?”

“Yes! I am!”

Amethyst put away her whip and facepalmed. “Oh, man, don’t tell me there’s more of you..”

Older Steven looked behind the kitchen island. “No, no. Only me. We're not gonna go through _that_ again." He chuckled nervously. "Uh- Do you see the--”

Suddenly, another portal opened up, spitting out another older Steven.

"Seven, then." Amethyst deadpanned. "This better not be like the sea shrine!"

"I..." Twoie gaped, speechless as he stared at all the other versions of him. They all stared right back.

"What's... happening?" The Steven in the frilly pink outfit asked. "Is... this a dream?"

The tatted one pinched his arm and winced. "... No?" 

The one in the pink outfit stood up slowly, shield vanishing. "... Why do you all look like me?"

"U-um..." Steven mumbled. Immediately all eyes were on him. He whined and hid back behind Amethyst. Before, he’d think this was really cool, but they were all so… _different_ and _weird_ and what happened last time was…

He shuddered.

Not that good.

“Whoa…” The older him in the frilly pink outfit gasped, peering around Amethyst to look at Steven. "You look like... me... but..." 

He looked around the house. " _Everything_ looks like..."

He gasped loudly. "Oh my gosh, I'm in the past!"

“We’re in the past?” The tattooed him asked, looking around some more. "... Huh."

There was an awkward silence, as all the Stevens slowly processed their situation.   
  
“Okay, I’m gonna go before any more of you show up.” Amethyst said, pushing Steven and the other Steven’s aside, heading to her room.   
  
“Wait!” The older him with the pink jacket called. “Amethyst! You might have a time glass in your room! We need it!”   
  
Amethyst shrugged. “Okay, then, I’ll look for it. You all just stay out here and don’t trash my room.” She opened up her door and gasped. “GARNET!? What’re you doing in my room?” She walked in. Garnet responded with something, but the shutting of the door cut their conversation off from the Stevens.

They all glanced around at each other.

"Are you... me?" The one in the jacket asked the one in pink. The one in pink shrugged. "I dunno... are you _me_?"

"I think we're all eachother." The one in denim said. 

"No shit." The long-haired one grumbled. The one in denim shot a glare his way. 

"But how?" The one in the pink jacket asked. "You look, well, you look like me, but you-- you _don't_ look like... me?"

"Does it matter?" The tattooed one asked. "I just wanna get back home."

The group as a whole murmured in agreement. Steven gulped and looked up at all the other hims. His eyes settled on the one in the golden cape. 

"U-um." He mumbled, walking up to him. The one in the golden cape looked down at him and his eyes widened. 

"Oh... hello, small me." He smiled nervously. "I'm, um, this must be very confusing for you... huh?"

Steven nodded, then bit his lip. "Is this... like last time? With- with the time glass? Where you all fight and then vanish?"

The caped one's eyebrows furrowed before he gasped and shook his head. "No! No! I, uh, I just accidentally traveled back, I'm not here to hurt you. I don't think any of us are."

The group backed up that statement, shaking their heads and agreeing that no, this was not going to end like last time. 

"Well, no use standing around gawking at eachother." The one in denim said. He looked to the one in the pink jacket. "Uh, you. The uh-- um. You. You said there was a time glass in Amethyst's room?"

The one in the pink jacket nodded. "Yep."

"Then we should go get it." The one in denim said. "So we can get home as soon as possible and... forget all this ever happened."

The group seemed to agree, all heading towards Amethyst's room. They were a bit awkward around each other, continuing to glance around and stare. After all, being in a crowd of your own face was kind of off-putting. Steven followed them as well. 

“So… are you all named Steven?” Steven asked as they entered Amethyst’s room.   
  
“Yeah, pretty sure.” The tattooed one answered. 

“Hmm…” Steven thought. “You guys probably need nicknames… oh, I’ve got it!”  
  
He pointed to the pink jacket one. “Steven two,” He pointed to the caped one. “Steven three,” He pointed to that tattooed one. “Steven four,--”   
  
“Okay, okay, no.” The pink jacket one said. “We’re not going by _numbers_ .”   
  
“Aw, why not?” Steven frowned.   
  
“Because--” The pink jacket one fumbled for a bit then groaned. “ _Because!”_   
  
“I liked it.” The long haired one said.

“HEY!” Amethyst shouted. Steven turned around and saw her standing in front of them, Garnet not too far. “What’re you guys doing??”  
  
“Coming up with names for them!” Steven said before anyone else could speak. Amethyst huffed. “You can do that in your own room.”   
  
“Actually, we’re looking for your time piece so we can get home.” The one in the denim jacket said.

Amethyst rolled her eyes. “Fine, whatever, The Slinker’s already trashed my room, why not have seven more twerps do the same?”

“I knew you’d understand.” The one in the denim jacket said, patting her shoulder and moving ahead. Amethyst growled and stomped up to him. “Listen, denim boy--”  
  
“Oh! Oh!” Steven piped up. “Denim!”   
  
“What?” Amethyst and Denim turned around.   
  
“That’s a good nickname!”

Denim smirked. “Alright, I’m down with that.” Amethyst side-eyed him.  
  
“Name the rest! Name the rest!” Steven pleaded with Amethyst. Amethyst sighed. “Fine. Whatever. Uh.” 

She walked out of the group. “There, done. Now will you _leave me alone?”_

“Sorry, but we need your timepiece.” Denim said. “Don’t worry, we won’t ruin your room.”  
  
The Slinker chattered in the distance, drawing the attention of the group.

“Can't promise that thing won’t, though.” He whispered to her.

“There!” Garnet hissed, jumping forward and then blasting her gauntlets off of her hands towards a pile of trash. It exploded on impact and Garnet came over to inspect her damage. Steven and the group ran behind Amethyst as they tried to catch up to Garnet.

“Whoa, Mama! Did you get it?!” Amethyst gasped. 

“No.” Garnet replied.

Amethyst jumped down the hole, digging around in the trash.

“Aw, man.. I think my-”

“WAIT!” Twoie shouted. Everyone jumped and turned towards him. Twoie jumped into the trash and started to fling some junk away, digging deeper.

“HEY!! BE CAREFUL WITH MY JUNK!” Amethyst yelled. Twoie didn’t respond, just sitting back in horror.

“... The time glass.” He picked it up, broken into five pieces with shards everywhere. “It’s broken..”

“Oh, no.” Steven frowned. “Does.. does that mean you’re stuck here..?”

Twoie looked back at him, eyes full of fear. “I.. I guess so.. I.. oh, man..”

“Oh, dude..” Amethyst frowned, reaching out a hand to comfort him.

 _“WHAT!?”_ Hero cried. “We’re stuck!?”   
  
Garnet shushed him. Hero huffed. “Sorry.” He whispered.   
  
“Wait, Garnet, how are _you_ doing with this?” Denim asked her. “This must be horrible on your future vision…”   
  
“I’ll... manage.” She said. “What’s important right now is the fact that all of you are stuck here.”

Strawberry sat down and put his head in his hands. P sat down next to him and pat his back comfortingly. 

“Don’t worry.” Garnet said. “There might be a way to repair it.”  
  
Steven looked up at her. “Really??”

“Yes. there is a certain adhesive we can use to reattach the glass back together.”

“Where is it?” Twoie asked.

“I think Pearl knows it’s location. For now, we bubble the glass.” She stepped forward, bubbling all shards she could find. Twoie and some other Stevens helped by pointing out glass. Steven hummed. It would be weird with _eight_ Steven’s around.. He hoped that they found that adhesive soon..

Amethyst huffed and laid back. “Ugh, this is so _boring_ .. We haven’t even _seen_ The Slinker ye--” She looked down as a long black tendril wrapped around her leg. She screamed, being pulled under the junk then poofed.

The group watched in horror. Steven rushed over to her gem and gasped. “Amethyst got poofed!!”

Steven walked over to the gem and picked it up, feeling a familiar sadness in his heart. He hated seeing the gems get hurt like that; even if he knew she was coming back, It still hurt. 

He cradled her close and walked over to Garnet, holding the gem out. “G-g-g-garnet..?”

“Steven, remember-- our bodies are only an illusion. Amethyst will be fine.”

“Yeah, she’ll be okay. She’s sturdy.” Twoie interjected, patting Steven’s head timidly. Steven appreciated the gesture. “But.. Pearl took two whole weeks to come back!” He said to Garnet. “And..” He sniffled. “I already miss Amethyst so much!!”

“She’ll be back soon.” Twoie said.

Steven frowned. “How- how do you know?”

“We just know, Steven.” Hero said, also comforting him. Just then, he felt the gem warm up in his hands and float off. Steven gasped and watched as Amethyst’s body warped into her new form in the sky. He beamed. They were right!

She appeared, long hair covering her body before she fell to the ground.

“Amethyst’s back! Amethyst’s back!” He giggled, hugging her tightly. 

“Ugh.” She groaned, pushing him away with her newly grown feet in place of her arms. “Huh..?”

Steven laughed. “Looks like you.. Grew a few feet since I last saw you!”

“That was fast.” Garnet deadpanned, walking up behind them. “Even for you.”

“Oh, no.” P mumbled. They turned to him. He looked away shyly.  
  
“Amethyst, maybe you should’ve taken longer…” Tats said, patting her ‘shoulder’. 

She shrugged away from him. “Don’t tell me what to do.”  
  
“Mm. Sorry, then…” Tats looked away uncomfortably. 

“Ugh.” Amethyst rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Let’s focus on finding the monster, okay? It’ll probably be easy with, like, _seven_ more people on the team.” She said before cartwheeling away on her four feet. Strawberry chuckled and shifted his arms to legs, following her lead. Twoie looked on in displeasure at that.

“HEY! OVER HERE!” Amethyst called after a moment. The Stevens followed her voice to a tunnel, where she and Strawberry were waiting. 

“Your new form is really interesting.” Steven commented, at the front of the group with Amethyst.

“Thanks, Steven.”

“I didn’t even know you _could_ come back this different!”

“ _Thanks,_ Steven.” Amethyst huffed. 

“So, why’d you come back with four legs?”  
  
Denim placed a hand on his shoulder. “Steven, I’m not sure Amethyst wants to talk about her new form.”

Amethyst glared behind her. “I can speak for myself, y’know.”  
  
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Denim said. “Please, forgive me.”   
  
Amethyst quirked an eyebrow. “Uh, okay? Jeez, so formal…” She walked ahead. Strawberry followed behind on his own four legs. Steven chuckled. “I like your new form, too!”   
  
Strawberry smiled at him and stood on his ‘hands’, sticking out his tongue at Steven. Steven laughed. “Can you teach me that?”   
  
“You shouldn’t be copying her.” Garnet said. Steven looked up. “Why not?”   
  
“Amethyst rushed her regeneration. She should’ve taken her time.”   
  
“Like Pearl?”   
  
Amethyst stopped in her tracks. Strawberry flopped onto his back and frowned up at Garnet.   
  
“Yes, Pearl put a bit more… _thought_ into how she came back.”   
  
“I think as long as Amethyst is happy and her form is stable, whatever she chooses is good.” P spoke up. Garnet looked at him. “Well, this isn’t a stable form. She needs hands.”   
  
“Y’know I’m pretty sick of you guys _talking_ for me and _about_ me!” Amethyst shouted. “My form is _fine_ and I _don’t_ need to be like PEARL!” 

“Amethyst! Your voice!” Garnet hissed.  
  
“MY VOICE? HUH?” Amethyst taunted. “WHAT ABOOUTTTT IT? IS THAT WRONG, TOO? HUH? SHOULD IT--”

The Slinker dropped from the ceiling and slammed her down into the hole, poofing her on impact.  
  
“There it is!” Hero shouted. “C’mon! Go!” He ran and leapt down into the hole, most of the Stevens following. Steven leapt down, too, and collected Amethyst’s gem while the rest rushed ahead. 

The slinker dove and wound around the corners as Hero led the charge. He summoned his shield and threw it at the beast. It got hit and cried out, squirming before charging back at the group. 

Strawberry, P, Twoie, and 420 screamed while Hero, Tats, and Denim kept their cool. The Slinker wrapped around Hero’s ankle and yanked him up. Tats rushed in and suckerpunched The Slinker’s body, making it cry out. 

Twoie and P summoned their shields. Twoie tossed it at The Slinkers body while P threw it at the tentacle that got Hero. Hero fell down and struggled for a bit with his cape while getting back up. Denim summoned his bubble boxing spike gloves and launched at the Slinker’s body, Tats with him. Twoie went around to the back and summoned a hexagon, pressing it forward into Denim and Tats. It squished upwards from the force before letting out a screech and poofing.

It’s gem clattered to the ground as the group regained their breath. 

420 walked up and bubbled it.

“No!” Twoie called out. “You’ll probably send it to the future! Let someone else do it.”  
  
“Oh, okay.” 420 said, tossing the bubble to Twoie. Twoie groaned. “I’m _also_ from the future, stupid!   
  
“Hey, I’m not stupid! You said to let someone else do it!”   
  
“Ugh…”

“Guys!? Guys, are you okay?” Steven asked, rounding the corner with Garnet and a Pearl-like Amethyst that had four arms instead of four legs. 

“Yeah, we’re okay.” Hero said as Steven ran up to him, ruffling his hair. “Don’t worry, Steven.”  
  
“Steven.” Twoie called, tossing him the bubble. “Send it off.”   
  
Steven looked down at the bubble and did just that. “Wow… I can’t believe you guys took it out!”   
  
“There are seven of us, Steven. It didn’t stand a chance.” Hero smirked. Tats rolled his eyes at his cockiness.

“What’s with your new form?” Strawberry asked Amethyst. 

Amethyst looked down at him and began to mimic Pearl. “What _ever_ are you talking about? Oh my! What is _wrong_ with _your_ form? Don’t you know it’s wrong to be any kind of _different?_ You _need_ hands!!!”   
  
Strawberry pouted, going silent and forming his hands back. Hero frowned. “Amethyst, don’t be mean…”   
  
“ _Amethyst_ ? Oh, no, dear, I am _Pearl!”_ _  
_ _  
_ “You’re clearly not.” Hero deadpanned. “Why are you doing this? I’m sorry if we made you feel badly about your new form.. We’re just concerned--”

“Oh, shove it.” Amethyst huffed. “Hey, P, you said that as long as I’m happy and stable, it’s good, right? Well? Back me up!”  
  
“...” P frowned. “Um.”

Amethyst flushed. “Wha- uh- C’mon!” 

P looked away, fiddling with the edges of his tutu. “I dunno if you’re… stable… or… happy… right now…”

“Okay, let’s all back off.” Denim said. “Amethyst can deal with this on her own.”  
  
“Darn right I can!” Amethyst called out, voice breaking. “I--” She cleared her throat. “I’m gonna go. You guys better get outta my room.”   
  
She walked to the entrance of the hole and leapt out. Steven frowned. “... What happened? Why is she sad?”

Twoie sighed. “Probably mad we didn’t leave her alone about her form.”  
  
“Sorry.” P said. 

“Yeah, maybe you should be.” Twoie said.  
  
“Rude!” 420 huffed. “P said sorry!”   
  
Twoie looked to the side.   
  
Denim put his hands up and walked to the middle of the group. “Okay, everyone, I think we’re all just a bit stressed from everything that's been going on… Let’s just get outta this hole and figure out what to do next, okay?”

The Stevens agreed and exited the hole. Steven glanced back to Amethyst’s room before leaving it with the others. Poor Amethyst…

They entered the empty house. Twoie looked around. “Where’s Pearl?”  
  
“Outside working with Greg on his van.” Garnet answered. 

“Should we… go out and tell her we’re here? Oh, wait, no, that’s stupid.” Twoie facepalmed. “Dad’ll _freak_!”

The door shut. Everyone turned to it and saw the tail end of 420 leaving the house. Twoie screeched. “NO! 420!” He ran outside and skidded to a stop on the porch. 420 was already in front of Greg and Pearl.  
  
“Hey!~”   
  
“...” Pearl and Greg shared a glance then looked back at 420. “Can we… help you?” Greg asked. 420 laughed. 

“Oh, da--” Twoie slapped a hand over his mouth and yanked him back inside. He slammed the door shut and 420 frowned. “Dude, what the hell?”  
  
“You can’t just do that! Dad’ll freak out!”   
  
“Not if we introduce ourselves one by one!~”   
  
“But now they’re probably gonna come inside--”   
  
On cue, Pearl and Greg entered the house. Pearl backed up and grabbed her spear. “Steven!? Why are there so many boys in the house!?”

“They’re me!” Steven called. “From the future! Remember the time glass?”

Pearl paled. “NOT AGAIN!”  
  
Greg peeked from behind Pearl. “What, Steven?? They’re _you_ ? What do you mean??”   
  
“They’re me from the future, dad! But, like… different futures maybe? They’re all me!”   
  
“You have eight sons now!” 420 shouted at his dad teasingly. 

Greg paled. 

“... Okay, bye.” 

He turned and sprinted out of the house. 

420 laughed. Twoie smacked him in the back of his head. 420 whined. “Ow! What’d you do that for!?”  
  
“You dummy! You scared him!”

“He was gonna freak anyways.”  
  
“I do _not_ like you.”   
  
420 huffed. “The feelin’s mutual.”   
  
“How many more of you are there?” Pearl asked nervously. 

“Just us.” Tats clarified. “If anyone else was coming, they would’ve already.”  
  
Pearl sighed in great relief, dissipating her spear. “Oh, thank the stars. So, where are your timeglasses?”   
  
“Uh.” Twoie gulped. “We don’t have any.”   
  
“YOU **_WHAT!?”_ ** **_  
_**   
“And Amethyst’s got smashed!” Steven chimed in. “They’re stuck here!”   
  
Pearl collapsed onto the couch dramatically. “Oh my stars.”   
  
420 chuckled. Twoie elbowed him. 420 glared at him and smacked the back of his head. Twoie snarled. Denim came between them and pushed them apart. 

“Calm down! We’ll figure this out. Garnet, you said that there was an adhesive we could get?”  
  
“Yes.” Garnet said. “There is. Pearl knows where it is.”   
  
Pearl looked up. “Huh? What? Oh…” She sat up. “The adhesive _should_ have been in the same place the original time glass was in, but that was destroyed!”   
  
“I’ll go search.” Garnet said, tapping her visor into goggles. “I’m a very good swimmer.”

“And if Garnet doesn’t find anything?” Hero asked. 

“There are other sea shrines on other planets… we’d have to go to one of those.”  
  
“Oh, good.” Hero sighed. “Easy then.”  
  
“Easy!?” Pearl squawked. “That is _not_ easy! We do _not_ have a spaceship!”  
  
Hero furrowed his brows then paled. “Oh! Right! Oh my god.”

Pearl laid down again. P looked at Hero in confusion. Hero gave him a look and then stared intently at his outfit. P looked down at his outfit and gasped, mouthing ‘oh my god’ at Hero. Hero nodded back at him. 

Steven furrowed his brows. “What’re you two doing that for?”

P and Hero both gave him a _‘please shut up!!!’_ look. Pearl sat up. “What is it now?”   
  
Steven pointed to P. “They’re whispering about something.”   
  
Pearl sat up and leaned to get a better look at P. “I don’t really ca--” Her eyes flew wide. 

P paled. “Um. I have a good explanation.”

Pearl covered her mouth and laid back down, looking away from P. P frowned and reached towards her, before deciding against it and backing away. 

“Anyways… Where are we staying?” Tats asked. “Steven’s room isn’t big enough for all of us.”  
  
“I can take Rose’s room.” P said. Strawberry raised his hand and nodded. P looked over. “What is it?”   
  
Strawberry signed something. P stared at him. “Wh-- why are you signing?”   
  
Strawberry signed again. P shook his head. “I don’t understand… are you deaf?”   
  
Strawberry gave him a deadpan look and shook his head. P blushed. “Oh, right… you’ve been responding this whole time…” He chuckled. “S-sorry. Uh, are you mute?”

He nodded.

“But I heard you speak before.” 420 said. Strawberry signed something again and 420 frowned. “Sorry, dude. I don’t know what you’re saying to me…”  
  
“Maybe he’s selectively mute.” Denim suggested. Strawberry nodded excitedly. Denim smiled. “There we go! So, did you want Rose’s room?”

Strawberry nodded.

“Okay, then, Strawberry and P take that room… and, um.” Denim thought. “I suppose some of us can just sleep in Steven’s room or on the couch?”  
  
“I’ll sleep in Steven’s room.” Twoie said. Hero and Tats agreed. 420 shrugged. “Guess I’m taking the couch.”

“Seems good to me!” Denim said. “Steven?”  
  
Steven frowned. “I dunno… my bed’s not that big.”   
  
Hero laughed. “Steven, we’ll be sleeping on the floor.”

“Oh! But the floor’s so hard! And I only have one sleeping bag!”  
  
“Oh.” Hero nodded. “Maybe we can borrow some stuff from Amethyst’s room?”

Steven thought back to Amethyst at that moment. She was probably still sulking in her room, stuck in her new form… He should really go help out.  
  
“Um, okay. I’ll go and ask her.”   
  
“Do you mind if I come with?” Denim asked. Steven shook his head. “No, guess not…” 

Denim and Steven headed into her room together, leaving the rest of the group behind them. Steven walked beside Denim, glancing up at him nervously from time to time. “ _Soooooo…_ why do you wear sunglasses?”   
  
“It was very sunny where I came from.” Denim said. “Plus, they look cool.”   
  
Steven chuckled. “They do!”

There was a beat of silence.   
  
“... So, um, how old are you?” He asked.

“I’m seventeen.”  
  
“Whoa, you’re _super_ old!”   
  
Denim chuckled. “And how old are you?”

“I’m thirteen.”  
  
“You’re super young, then.” He said, ruffling Steven’s hair. Steven giggled. 

Denim stopped and looked up, Steven followed his gaze. Amethyst was sitting on top of a junk pile, arms crossed and tossing junk off of it into a lake.   
  
“Hey, Amethyst!!!” Steven called. Amethyst startled and looked down at him, then glared at the both of them and crossed her arms again. Denim frowned. 

“Mm… Hey, Amethyst? Is it okay if we come up there? Steven has something to ask you!”  
  
“...”   
  
“Amethyst?” Steven called.

 **“Whatever!”** She shouted down. Steven took that as a yes and began climbing the junk pile. Denim leapt up to the top and floated down, landing next to her. She scooted away, and he let her. Steven huffed. _How did Denim do that???_

Eventually, Steven got to the top of the junk mound and flopped down between them. “Wow… I almost fell, like, four times!”

He got up and sat between them, more close to Amethyst. “So, Amethyst, the other me’s are gonna be here for a while… can we borrow some sleeping bags for them?”  
  
“No.”   
  
“What?? But the floors are super hard!”   
  
“I don’t care.”   
  
“Not even blankets? Pillows?”   
  
“UGH!” Amethyst groaned loudly, tugging at her hair. “IF I SAY YES, WILL YOU GO?!”

“Um, probably?” Steven said nervously.  
  
“THEN _YES_ ! **WHATEVER**! TAKE MY WHOLE DANG ROOM!” She grumpily kicked a can off of the pile.

“Amethyst, we don’t have to if you really aren’t okay with it…” Denim said. 

“Doesn’t seem like it.”  
  
Denim frowned. “... Mind if I sit by you?”   
  
“You already are.”   
  
“I mean closer.”   
  
“Yeah. I mind.”   
  
“Okay, then… what’s wrong?”   
  
“Nothin’.”   
  
“Amethyst, I’m sorry about what the others said earlier. They didn’t want to make you upset.”   
  
Amethyst glared at him from the corner of her eye. “Then why’d they say that stuff? Huh?”   
  
“They were just trying to look out for you. But, I understand that that wasn’t the best time.”   
  
“No duh.”   
  
“... We just want you to be happy. Whatever’s troubling you, you can talk it out with me.”   
  
Amethyst huffed. “Nothing’s troubling me. Can’t you see? I’m _Pearl-fect_.” Amethyst whipped her hair around, smacking Denim’s shades askew. 

Denim blinked a few times before readjusting them. “If you don’t want to talk about it, then that’s fine. I’m just offering. I could ask Steven to leave, if you like. Or I could leave and it could just be you and Steven.”

“...” Amethyst glanced back at Steven. “... Yo, Steven, go find the sleeping bags.”  
  
Steven looked between them for a moment before shyly responding.

“Um, okay.” 

He leapt down from the hill, landing in a lake and swimming to the top before he could fall through. He began his search for sleeping bags and pillows, digging around in the trash and getting a little dirty. Occasionally, he would glance back up at where Denim and Amethyst were talking, or he’d overhear Amethyst shout something before they calmed down again. After a few minutes, he returned to the top of the hill, a pile of pillows, blankets, and sleeping bags at the bottom.  
  
“Hey! I got all the stuff.”

Denim had an arm wrapped around Amethyst, who was leaning into him. He looked back at him, his shades up on his head. “Oh, that’s good. I’ll be right out, okay? You go ahead.”  
  
“No, it’s fine.” Amethyst said, sounding drained. “Um, you guys go.”   
  
“You sure?” Denim asked, gently rubbing her shoulder. Amethyst nodded. “Yeah. I gotta go, y’know, reform.”   
  
Denim nodded. “Okay. Thank you so much for trusting me enough to talk to me, Amethyst.”   
  
“Yeah, yeah, whatever…” She pushed him off. “Go set up your sleepin’ bags.”   
  
Denim smiled and put his shades back on, getting up and following Steven down the hill.

“What’d you guys talk about?” Steven asked.  
  
“That’s just for us to know, Steven.” Denim said. 

“Oh. Okay. Um… is Amethyst going to be okay?”  
  
“I hope so.”   
  
“... Okay.”

Steven and Denim exited Amethyst’s room, sleeping supplies in tow, and helped everyone get situated. When nightfall came, Steven crawled into his bed and glanced around at the three new yet familiar faces in his bedroom, fast asleep. This was definitely going to be a weird summer…

He shut his eyes and fell asleep.


	2. Twoie Training (Short)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Twoies help prepare Steven and unlock his powers.

“Okay, Steven, are you ready?” Twoie asked.   
  
Steven nodded, readying his stance. Twoie summoned his shield, charging for him and Steven leapt out of the way. He ducked as the shield flew over his head.

“Summon your shield!” Hero yelled out. Steven nodded and concentrated, accidentally summoning his bubble instead. He groaned and laid down. “Not bubble! Shield!”

Twoie chuckled and patted his bubble. “Hey, bubble ain’t so bad!”   
  
“I know…” Steven sighed, his bubbled retreating back into his gem. "But I still wanna summon my shield."

They had started this the morning after Steven saw Connie and Pearl training. He figured that with seven other hims, he was bound to get the hang of his magical powers. Plus the others already knew so many cool things like floating, bubble boxing gloves, and double shield summoning!

“Okay, who’s next?” Twoie called out, sitting down. Hero got up and stretched out. “My turn, I believe!” 

He strutted over confidently, unlatching his cape and letting it fall to the floor. “Okay, Steven, let’s spar. Try to use your floating as much as possible, okay? We’re fighting in the  _ air _ .”   
  
Steven gasped. “In the air?? That’s so cool!”   
  
“I know.” Hero winked. “Now, c’mon! Let’s go!”   
  
Steven watched in awe as Hero turned pink and blasted off into the sky. Hero soared, showing off by doing some somersaults before flying down and lounging in the clouds. After a few moments, he glanced down and smirked at Steven.

“Well? You comin’?”

Steven nodded excitedly and jumped, only getting a few feet off the ground before he touched down again. He frowned and stomped his feet. “Darn it!”   
  
“Think of something happy! Like Ice Cream!” Hero suggested.    
  
“Ice Cream?” Steven wondered aloud.  _ Worth a shot!  _ He shut his eyes and imagined his favourite ice-cream brand: Cookie Cat. Even though it was gone now, he had just found a recipe online on how to make his own… to think: he could be tasting that sweet half and half again…

“Yeah! That’s it!” Hero cheered. “Come on up!”   
  
Steven opened his eyes and saw the ground getting further away from him. He squeaked in fright for a moment, dropping a foot, before regaining his composure and laughing at his surprise. He was doing it! 

He looked up to Hero with a big grin on his face, and Hero smiled back warmly. He floated down and scooped Steven up, flying him up to his original height and letting him go.   
  
“Okay, buddy. You feelin’ good right now? Think you won’t fall if we fight?”   
  
“Uhhhh… Sure! Come at me!” Steven said, readying his fists cutely.

Hero snorted. “Okay, okay. Get ready.” He cracked his knuckles. Steven gulped. 

“You’re gonna punch me?”

“How else would we fight, Steven? Me punching you is  _ a lot  _ safer than what some of  _ them _ have been doing.” He huffed, glaring down at Twoie specifically. Steven pressed his lips together. 

“I guess… Okay, I’m ready.”

“But your shield isn’t summoned?”

“I don’t really know how to do that yet…” Steven frowned, sinking a little. Hero steadied him. “Whoa, okay, that’s fine. You’ll learn eventually.”   
  
He backed up again and readied his stance. “Let’s go!” 

He landed a punch on Steven’s arm. Steven was propelled backwards, spinning around uncontrollably. “W-w-w-whoaaaa!”

Hero cringed and flew forward, catching Steven against him. “Hmm…" Hero frowned. "Okay, maybe we just need to work on  _ flying  _ first.”   
  
“Yeah, probably…” Steven sighed. He blew it… 

He began to sink. Hero scooped him back up and turned pink, flying down to the ground and setting him on the tile before landing gracefully. 

“Okay, I think that’s my time.” Hero said. “Even though we couldn’t fight in the air, at least he’s starting to float!”

Strawberry clapped a little for Steven. Denim chuckled and clapped, too.

Twoie narrowed his eyes at Hero. “Hey, Hero… why are you going pink everytime you float?”   
  
“Oh, going pink is how I fly. Flying much better than floating, to be honest. Why would I even have a cape if I couldn’t  _ fly _ ?” He arched a brow cockily.

“Why do you even have a cape in the first place?” 420 asked. “Actually, why are you dressed like that at all? I’m not, like, trying to be mean or anything… I like the boots."

“Oh.” Hero said, looking down at himself as he pulled his cape back on. “Well… ‘cause I'm a hero!”

420 narrowed his eyes. “Huh?” 

“I’m a hero!” Hero repeated. “I save people! Like, uh, I liberated Homeworld colonies, I savedd people in Beach City... mostly. And uh… other stuff! Plus, apparently casual clothes look really unprofessional to gems… so I just wore this and they liked it better!”

Twoie, Tats, 420, and P all gave him a deadpan look, then glanced at each other. 

“Well… whatever floats your boat.” Twoie said, shrugging. “Uh, who’s turn it is now? Strawberry, right?”   
  
Strawberry looked up from his phone and shook his head.    
  
“What’s the matter? You don’t wanna go?” Twoie asked.   
  
Strawberry sighed and showed Twoie his phone screen. Twoie read it aloud: 

_‘I’m not a good fighter.’._ Well, uh, we all have our own skills. Why not give it a shot anyways?”

Strawberry huffed and reluctantly got up, pocketing his phone and going over to Steven. Steven waved. Strawberry waved back.

“...” 

Strawberry thought for a moment, scratching the back of his head before an idea came to him. He enveloped himself in a bright pink light and turned into an almost 100% likeness of Amethyst, giving Steven a peace sign.

Steven gasped. Most of the others stood up in shock and gasped, too. Strawberry giggled. "Cool?” He asked, voice a bit raspy, and very quiet.

“Uh, YEAH!” Steven beamed. “I didn’t know you could also change colour!”   
  
“Well, I-It’s all about creating a hard light shell around yourself. This is just a projection, remember? I’m still in here.” Strawberry explained, playing with the end of His/Amethyst's tank top.   
  
Steven tilted his head. “But Amethyst is smaller than you?”   


“Okay, so you gotta focus not on your body, but on your... light.” Strawberry explained, lifting up his sweater and pointing to his gem. “Which comes from this guy right here, okay?”

“Okay…” Steven said, copying him. 

“Now, shut your eyes and  _ feel _ the hard light within yourself…” 

Strawberry did just as he said, folding his arms in front of himself in a meditative stance similar to the temple's. Steven watched and tried to replicate it, shutting his eyes and trying to focus on his body. 

_ What did hard light even look like? Did it look like the gems? They were made out of hard light, right…?  _

He began to envision the gems glowing forms, similar to when Amethyst had shape-shifted. He felt a tingling in his gem and gasped. 

“I think I feel the hard light!”

Strawberry smiled. “Good! Now just try and focus on a small part, okay…? Focus on your arm and turn it... purple or something.”   
  
Steven nodded and focused on his arms' energy, imagining it as hard light that shifted into him with purple skin. He concentrated harder, straining, then popped his eyes open to look at his arm.

Nothing changed.

“What!? But I felt it!” Steven whined, stomping the tiles. Strawberry frowned and gently patted his back. 

“It’s okay… it took me a long time to do this… I’m just proud of you for trying.” He smiled sweetly at him. Steven nodded. “Okay. Can we try again sometime?”   
  
“Of course we can.” He smiled.  His phone beeped and he quickly shut off the alarm. 

“Okay, my turn.” Tats said, getting up and moving to Steven. Strawberry backed away to the bleachers, a little intimidated by Tats. Tats rolled his eyes. He got in front of Steven, cracking his knuckles and readying his stance.

“Get ready.”   
  
Steven blinked in surprise. 

_ Oh, they were just gonna start right away? Okay.  _

He shifted his stance and tried to summon his shield. 

“No magic.”

“What?” Steven looked up at him. “Why?”

“There might come a time where your powers fail you or you get into a fight with another human. You gotta know both sides of yourself: your gem side  _ and  _ your human side. We’re just gonna fistfight. Get ready.”   
  
Steven gulped. “B-but what if I get hurt?”   
  
“I promise I’ll kiss it better, ‘kay?” He smirked playfully. Steven giggled. “Um, okay.”   
  
He tried to crack his knuckles, too, but they didn’t make a sound. Then he got into the proper stance. 

Tats swooped down and threw a left hook, which Steven dodged and then moved around, punching Tats lightly in the side. 

Tats huffed. “I’m tough, kid, you can hit harder.”

He kicked upwards, grazing Steven’s jaw. Steven winced and stumbled back, which opened up his stomach. He got hit lightly in the chest and he fell back onto the tile weakly. Tats stood over him as Steven got up and rubbed his chest. “Ow…”   
  
“You okay?” Tats asked, extending an arm towards him.    
  
“Uh- yeah!” Steven said and got up, puffing out his cheeks and clenching his fists. “I’m gonna… beat you up!!!”

Tats stifled a laugh. “No offense, but you’re really cute.”   
  
“Aw, thank you!” Steven blushed, then furrowed his brows. “Oh, wait.” He huffed. “I’m not supposed to be cute right now!”   
  
Tats laughed again. “Oh my god…”   
  
Steven spotted an open area on Tats while he was distracted and kicked the back of his knees. Tats cried out, stumbling onto one knee. Steven then karate chopped his side and kicked his butt. “Boom! Boom! I win!”   
  
Tats chuckled and got back up, kicking Steven in the chest lightly and toppling him over. 

"Boom." 

Steven got to his feet quickly and ran towards Tats. Tats scooped him under his arm and noogied him. Steven squirmed around, a smile breaking out onto his face. “Nooooo!!! You got me!!!”

Tats laughed and lifted him up, blowing a raspberry into his neck, which made Steven laugh. “Tattoos!!! We’re supposed to be fighting!!!”   
  
“We are. And I’m winning.” He said between raspberries.    
  
Steven snorted and laughed louder as Tats tickled him under his arms. 

“Nooo!!! No!!! I’m being tickled to deaaattthh!~” Steven exclaimed. He went limp and stuck his tongue out comically. “Bleh.”

Tats chuckled and set him down, feigning distress. “Oh, no, I killed him~ Whatever will I do?~”

Steven leapt to his feet and punched Tats in the chest. “SURPRISE ATTACK!”   
  
Tats stumbled backwards and laughed. “Oh, shoot! You got me! Perfect fakeout!”   
  
“Really?”   
  
“No, not really. Don’t play dead in battle.”   
  
“Oh.”   
  
“But that was a good first match, Steven.” He ruffled his hair. “Maybe one day  _ I’ll _ be the one dying from tickles.”   
  
Steven giggled. “Yeah!”

The training ended shortly after, and Steven went to bed. The next morning, a lot of the others (Twoie, Tats, P, and Hero) seemed to be bothered by something Pearl was doing. Steven tried to overhear them, but they were already warping away by the time he could hear anything important. It was something about Connie and Pearl… maybe they were going for training tips?

He found out later through Twoie that Pearl was training Connie to only serve Steven, and to only value his life, so they put a stop to it and helped out Connie. Pearl was really offended that they didn’t like her teaching methods, but after they all talked, it apparently worked out? Steven felt like Twoie was leaving details out, but when he pressed Twoie for more, Twoie said he was telling the truth.

He was glad they helped, at least. But he wanted to help, too…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This series has been getting some really good support tbh!!! I'm so happy that y'all like it, and I'm sure Pixel is too :) Keep it up, please!!! I consume ur comments for power
> 
> hope u enjoyed reading!


	3. Trying to Keep it Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With all the Twoies helping the gems look for Peridot, Strawberry is left to babysit Steven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was written forever ago, as most chapters are, so it's not up to my standards but whatever! Just take it.

“It’s better if we do them  _ together _ .” Garnet said.   


The group returned to folding the clothing. Amethyst set down her magazine and started folding clothes too. 

“Humans should just stop wearing clothes. It’d be a lot funnier.” She said, half joking.   
  
“Yeah.” 420 said, fully joking.  


“Ew, no.” P said. “Clothes are important.”   
  
“Nah.” 420 responded. “People  _ should _ just stop wearing clothes.”   
  
“Well, that’s not happening.” Twoie said. “ _ Especially _ not now. I don’t wanna see any of you naked.”   
  
420 snorted. “You already have.”

Twoie sputtered. _ “WHAT!? _ No I haven’t!” 

"Well, you've seen yourself before, right?" He snickered.  


Twoie thought for a moment about that, then shuddered in disgust. “Never say that again.”   
  
420 laughed loudly. Tats and Denim chuckled.  


Eager to change topics, Pearl said: “Garnet, you don’t think Peridot would come looking for us, do you?”

“We weren’t her priority. She was sent here to do something in the Kindergarten.” Garnet responded.  


“Do you think she’s still going to try and reactivate it?”

“Mhm. If she gets it up and running, the injectors will turn back on.”   
  
“In… jectors?” Steven asked.   
  
“The drills.” Hero said. “Y’know, the stuff with the gem goop in them?”

“Gem goop???” Steven asked again.

Pearl huffed. “It’s not  _ Gem Goop… _ And, Steven, you’ve already seen them.” 

She tapped her gem, summoning a hologram that depicted the injectors. 

“Well, you’ve seen them disabled. If Peridot reactivates them, they’ll pick up right where they left off: planting gems in the crust of the Earth: where they’ll incubate and suck the life right out of the ground. We  _ can’t  _ let Peridot restart gem production here.” 

Amethyst looked off to the side uncomfortably.   


420 furrowed his brows “Wait,  _ is  _ she trying to restart gem production? I thought she was doing that stuff with the uh… the other things? The… oh, darn, my memory’s really bad hang on--” He squeezed his eyes shut. “The uhhhh…”   
  
“We probably shouldn’t discuss that.” Denim said.

“Discuss what?” Steven asked.

“Do you know what she’s doing?” Pearl asked.

“Yeah, I do, hold up.” 420 responded. “It's the uh... the forced--” Hero slapped a hand over his mouth. 

“420, be sensitive! Garnet is  _ right there!” _ _   
_   
Garnet narrowed her eyes. “I can take it. Tell me.”   
  
Hero shook his head. “No, it-- it’s horrible, Garnet.”   
  
“Tell us!” Pearl pleaded. “We need to stop her, whatever it is!”   
  
Hero bit his lip. “... Are you certain?”   
  
“YES!” Pearl huffed. “We can  _ handle _ it.”   
  
“...” Hero sighed. “She’s checking up on the... the forced fusion experiments.”

Garnet froze. Amethyst and Pearl’s eyes went wide. Strawberry gasped and the rest of the Stevens looked away in discomfort. 

Steven frowned. “ _Forced_ … fusion?”   
  
Hero looked at him, eyebrows drawn together in anxiety. “Uh, don’t worry about it, Steven.”

“Are you sure that’s what they’re doing? How would you even…?” Pearl trailed off.   
  
Garnet bit her lip. “... Tell me how you know about this.”

“Well, we’ve been through it before-- EUGH!” Hero yanked his hand away from 420’s mouth. “Did you just lick my hand!?”   
  
“You put your hand over my mouth, what was I supposed to do?” 420 shrugged.  
  
Hero groaned. “You could’ve  _ asked _ me to remove it.”   
  
“How, though? I couldn’t talk.”

“Uh, HELLO!? We need to know about the experiments!” Amethyst shouted. 

Hero startled. “Oh, right… Um. Homeworld wanted to create more powerful gems, I think, and then they just… kinda glued Gems together to get them to fuse.”   
  
Garnet cringed. Pearl covered her mouth in horror. Amethyst winced, and Steven whimpered. “W-what? Gluing Gems together??”

“We shouldn’t talk about this in front of the kid.” Denim said and stood up. "We need to go poof those experiments and hopefully capture Peridot. I’m willing to go. Who else is with me?”

Garnet and Pearl stood up immediately. The rest of the Stevens also began to stand, except for Strawberry. Amethyst and Steven rose last.

Denim looked down at Steven, giving him an apologetic look. “Sorry, Steven. You can’t come.”   
  
Steven frowned, stomping his foot in frustration. “But I wanna help!”   
  
Denim leaned down, patting his head. “I know you do, but do you really want to see what we’ve just described?”   
  
Steven's eyes widened, doubt flickering in them for a moment before he looked back at Denim, rubbing his arm awkwardly. 

“... N-no. B-but you’re gonna go see it, s-so--”

Denim cut him off. “I’m sorry, Steven, but I don’t think it would be good for you to see this.”

“But I’m a Crystal Gem! I can handle it!” He protested.  
  
“Yes, you _are_ a Crystal Gem…” Denim trailed off, thinking. “... If we bring back Peridot, you can interrogate her, how’s that?”   
  
Steven huffed. “But I can do more than that!"  


Garnet put her hand in his hair. “Sorry, Steven, but he’s right. This is too dangerous for you.”

Steven pouted and looked down, fighting back tears. “ _ Fine. _ ”   
  
Denim sighed and pat his cheek. “It’ll be alright. You can come on other missions, okay?”

“Okay.” Steven mumbled.   


Denim stood. “Strawberry, you aren’t coming?”   
  
Strawberry shook his head. 

Denim nodded. “Okay, then. You two stay home. We’ll be back.”

Steven watched as everyone left, leaving him alone in the house. He  looked back at Strawberry, who waved shyly. Steven huffed and flopped down on the couch. 

“It’s not fair. I’m not a kid! I’m a teenager! Thir _ teen _ !  _ Teen _ !" He turned to Strawberry, who was now sitting on the couch with him. "You know that, right?"

Strawberry gave him an awkward smile, then began to sign.   


“I don’t know what that is!” Steven buried his head in his hands.  Strawberry took out his phone to type instead. 

Steven groaned. “Nevermind.”

Strawberry scoffed in offense. Steven sighed. “Sorry… that was mean. I’m just mad about not going on the mission…”

Strawberry signed something else and Steven turned to face him. 

“... Can you teach me that? So I don’t have to guess what you’re saying?”

\---

Strawberry taught Steven a good amount of sign language and started to get more comfortable. He began to speak again, which allowed for faster learning since he didn’t have to type anymore. After thirty minutes, they took a break and Strawberry was in the kitchen, making Steven a snack. 

“Thanks for teaching me, Strawberry!” Steven said. “Do you mind if I teach the others?"   
  
“I don’t mind. I think it’d be nice to have everyone understand me.” Strawberry said, spreading some jelly on the PB&J he was making.   
  
“Why are you selectively mute anyways?  _ I’m _ not like that, and nobody else is either.”

“Um.” Strawberry paused for a moment before continuing. “Something bad happened to me.”

Steven sat up. “Something _bad_ …?”

Strawberry nodded and turned away from Steven.

“Like what?" Steven asked. "Do all selectively mute people become that way because something bad happened to them?”

“No, Steven. Some people are just born with it. I um…” He gulped and sighed out shakily before signing: 

‘ _ I not want [sign]'  _

Steven didn’t understand the last sign, but got the jist. He nodded. 

“Okay. Um, I’m sorry that happened.”

Strawberry shrugged and waved a hand dismissively. He finished Steven’s PB&J and gave it to him. Steven bit into it and looked back over at the warp pad. 

“When do you think they’ll be back?”

Strawberry shrugged.  _ ‘I don’t know.’ _

Just then the warp activated. Everyone looked a little beat up and Garnet was more stiff than usual. 

Steven beamed and rushed to hug them with open arms. He was brushed aside by a pink Twoie, who stomped off outside. Hero attempted to follow him. 

“Twoie! Wait! I can help--”

Twoie slammed the door shut. Hero winced and frowned. 

“--You…”

“What… happened?” Steven asked. 

Hero looked down at him and then looked away, uncomfortable. “Um… We saw some unpleasant things down there… he got a little mad. But, uh, good news!”

He looked back to Denim, who presented a bubble with Peridot’s gem inside it. He smiled. “You can interrogate her later, Steven.”

Steven gasped. “Oh my gosh! You did it!”

“Actually,  _ I  _ did it.” Hero said haughtily. “With one throw, might I add.”

Denim huffed. “Yes, Hero, you did take her out… But we  _ all _ helped.”

“Guess so.”

Denim turned around and went to the bubble room huffily. Steven was too enraptured by Hero to notice.

“That’s so cool! How’d you do it???” He asked, stars in his eyes.  


Hero beamed, his own eyes sparkling. “ _ Well _ , it was simple, really… all I did was fly up, grab her, and then  _ punt _ her to the ground! Then she poofed!”

“Wow… I wanna fly!”

“No, you don’t.” Tats said coldly. “He goes pink when he flies, it’s not safe.”

Hero glared in his direction. “I can  _ control _ it, Tats. Mind your business.”

“It's my business when I know how dangerous going pink is!” Tats fired back.  


“You think I also don’t know?” 

“Obviously not, since you’re _encouraging_ Steven to go pink.”

“I never encouraged him!” Hero scoffed.

“Yes, you did!” Tats growled.

“Guys! Guys! Stop fighting!” Steven pouted, pushing them away from each other. “Let’s talk about something else! Like, um, do you wanna see some signs I learned from Strawberry?”

Hero and Tats gave each other one last harsh glare before turning back to Steven.

“I’d love to.” Hero said. 

“Me, too.” Tats agreed.  


Steven smiled and began to sign, excited to show what he learned from his afternoon with Strawberry.   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment i consume them for power


	4. Chille Tid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven goes into the others dreams

Pearl sighed. “Thank you for your concern, Twoie, but we can handle it. We don’t even know where she is right now, all we’re hoping for is to _find_ her.”

“Isn’t she on Mask Island?” 420 wondered. Hero nodded. “I think so. She’s eating the Stevens, right?”

Steven paled. “She’s eating the _what_???”

Hero's eyes widened and he chuckled nervously. "Um, don't worry about it."

Tattoos snickered at Hero’s embarrassment. “Yeah, she’s definitely there.”

Twoie looked to Garnet. “So, we should come, right?"

“We’ve got this.” Garnet said. 

“But…”

Garnet held out a hand. “Tell you what: if we’re not back in an hour, then you can come.”

Twoie sighed and nodded. "Okay... Good luck."

The rest of the Stevens wished them good luck as well, right until the gems warped off to Mask Island. Once they were gone, Twoie huffed and leaned against the table. “I just wanna help…”

Steven side-eyed him bitterly. _I know the feeling._ He thought to himself.

“Well, now we can finish this game.” Denim said, rolling the dice.

\----

Forty-five minutes later, the gems came back, soaked and tired. They announced that Malachite was _not_ at Mask Island and that they were going to continue the search later before retiring to their rooms. Twoie seemed perplexed that Malachite wasn’t there, but Hero reassured him that she _would_ be.

“Man, I forgot about all the crazy stuff that happened in the past....” Twoie said. “Are we gonna have to take care of all this again? I mean, assuming you guys have been through the same stuff as I have…”

“Oh stars, I hope not.” 420 said. “I’d rather die.”

P kicked him under the table. “Don’t say that!”

420 kicked him back and blew a raspberry in his direction.

“You guys are like five year olds.” Tats groaned. 

420 and P both blew a raspberry at him. Tats opened his mouth to say something rude, but stopped himself and settled instead for blowing a raspberry back.

"Ha, who's the kid now?" 420 smirked.

“I was gonna say something else, but I can’t with a kid here.” Tats explained.

“Guys! Guys! Please don’t fight!” Steven said, standing up. “When Steven hurts Steven, who’s the winner?”

“Whichever Steven is better.” 420 joked.

Steven glared at him. “No!!! Nobody is the winner! Jeez, we’re all the same!”

"Are we, though?" Twoie wondered. "I just-- it's so odd that we're all so different, yet somehow the same person."

Tats put his hand to his chin. "Hmm... you have a point."

“Have you ever heard of the multiverse theory?” Denim asked.

Tats shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Well," Denim began. "The multiverse theory states that each action creates a different timeline, a different _universe_ . So, maybe we all started out the same." He gestured to Steven. "But our lives took different directions because of the choices we made, which made us different."

Tats nodded. “That makes sense…”

"Whoa..." Steven gasped, eyes shining. "So I could grow up to be any _one_ of you...? Oh, oh, I hope I get tattoos like Tats!" He smiled, pointing to Tats. "They're so cool!"

Tats frowned. “... Um.” He scratched the back of his neck and looked down at his tattoos. "I dunno about that, Steven..."

"Why not?" Steven tilted his head. "They're pretty."

"Guess so." Tats shrugged. "But they're permanent. And, uh... I never really wanted them in the first place."

"If you didn't want them, why'd you get them?" P asked.

Tats took a moment to think over his answer, scratching at his arm anxiously. It was clear this made him uncomfortable, but he pulled through anyway.

"Well, the whole reason I _got_ tattoos in the first place was because I wanted to look 'tough'. At the time, I was facing off against a _lot_ of enemy gems, and none of them found me really... intimidating, y'know? So, I thought... maybe if I looked tougher, they'd back off and we could talk more instead of them just immediately trying to beat me down."

"Oh." Twoie frowned. "... Did it... um... work?"

Tats chuckled humourlessly. "No. They only respected attitude and size. I couldn't make myself bigger, so I just acted tougher. The tattoos were a waste of time."

He sighed and looked down at them.

"But, y'know, at least they don't look bad."

Everyone was silent for a moment, taking in that information. Hero patted his back. “I’m sorry.” 

Denim held his hand supportively.

“It’s alright.” Tats said. “It’s just something I gotta live with now.”

Steven walked over to Tats and hugged him. “ _I_ think you look cool…”

Tats chuckled softly. “Aw, thanks, buddy… you, too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah." He smirked. "You’re awesome.”

Twoie fidgeted by tapping the table, uncomfortable. “Um… are we gonna get back to the game? Like, not to, uh-- Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Tats said. “Yeah, let’s get back to the game.”

They played for a few more hours, cycling through board games. Steven won most often, but occasionally the others (mostly Strawberry) would win. Steven didn’t know, but they were all (except Strawberry) letting him win. Whenever Steven got suspicious, they’d suddenly beat him at a game and his doubts were gone. It was a fun few hours. The gems headed out again sometime, and then it was nightfall.

Twoie stretched out at the table, yawning. “It’s gettin’ late, isn’t it?”

“It’s not _that_ late.” Steven said. 

420 mumbled something, his head laid across his arms and eyes shut. Steven smiled sheepishly.

“Okay, maybe it’s a _little_ late…”

“Yeah, Steven, you gotta go to bed.” Tats said, beginning to pack up the board game with Hero and Denim. 

"Aw, come on, already?" Steven protested. "Can't I stay up a bit longer? I'm not even tired!" 

"I doubt that." Tats said.

"But who knows when we're all gonna be able to hang out again! You guys are always off helping the gems or running off to do your own things."

“Sorry, Steven.” Hero shrugged. “It's bed time."

They put the game back in the box and Tats put it back in the cupboard, trotting upstairs with the rest of the gang except Strawberry, P, and 420. Steven went upstairs and sat in his bed, pouting as the rest set up their sleeping bags. Then an idea struck him. 

“Wait! Guys, guys! What if we had a sleepover?”

“Aren’t we already doing that?” Hero asked.

“Noo~… Sleepovers mean you stay up late and do stuff! Like pillow fights!” He said excitedly, bouncing on his bed.

“Steven, we’re going to bed.” Twoie deadpanned.

“ _Maybe_ we could stay up.” Hero smirked. "After all, a hero always sleeps with one eye open."

Twoie squinted at him in confusion for a moment before shaking it off and rolling over. "No, sorry. We're going to bed."  
  
Steven pouted. “W-well, do you guys at least want a sleep companion?”

He got up and gathered a few small stuffed animals that were laying around his room. Tattoos got a blue one with one eye, Hero chose the yellow one with a big smile, and Twoie was stuck with a small brown teddy bear. He rested it beside him on his pillow and thanked Steven sleepily.

Denim pouted teasingly. “Aw, no slumber pals for me?”

“Sorry, I only had the three. But, um.” Steven glanced around and then gasped, picking up MC Bear Bear. “Here! He’s cool like you!” He tossed it to Denim, who caught it and smiled.

"Thanks, Steven. I love him already." He said, hugging it close and laying down.

Steven beamed and got into bed. “Okay, then! Goodnight!”

The Stevens mumbled something to the affect of "Goodnight" back, and fell asleep.

Steven snuggled under his bed sheets, grabbing his back up teddy bear and shutting his eyes tight. Soon after, he dozed off and begun to dream.

“What are you doing here?” Hero asked.

“I got super cool astral projection powers now so I'm going to say hi to everyone!!" Steven answered.

"Aw, that's sweet!” Hero smiled. “Here, let me help!” 

Hero tossed Steven into the air, sending him flying upwards. Steven laughed and span around, waving goodbye to Hero as he flew off into the clouds. He landed in another Steven's dream, and kept going through them one after the other.

Steven ran over to where Tats was walking, the sand cold beneath his feet. He caught up to him and tugged on his shirt. "Hey, Tats! What're you doing?"

Tats jolted in surprise and glanced back at Steven. He looked back at the temple before chuckling and ruffling Steven’s hair. 

“Shhh, Steven, you’ll blow my cover!” He whispered playfully.

“Your cover?” Steven tilted his head, also whispering now.

“Yeah? Y’know, you really shouldn’t have snuck out with me, but it’s fine. I won’t tell the gems.” He winked. 

Steven tilted his head again. “You snuck out? Why?”

“I’m gonna go visit Connie! Her parents are really strict, so I gotta sneak out to get to her. Don’t tell anyone, okay?” 

“Oh…” Steven hummed, looking down the beach. In the distance, he saw a city near where the boardwalk was. There was a very tall building in the center, with a windmill-like device on top of it. The rest of the buildings looked blocky and out of focus. Steven squinted, but they didn't get any clearer.

“Do you dream about hanging out with Connie a lot?” He finally asked, looking up at Tats.

Tats frowned at him. “Dream?”

A few seconds passed, and then Tats eyed widened. He looked around, frowning deeply. "I'm... dreaming?"

“--teven…” A voice called in the distance. Tats looked in the direction of the voice, and Steven did too, seeing a silhouette of an older Connie with a ponytail. 

Tats beamed and began to run towards her. “Connie!”

The silhouette vanished before he could get to her, and Tats skidded to a halt in the sand. “Wha??”

The whole world began to blur and lighten. Tats gasped, backing up. “No, no! NO! I don’t want to wake up yet! Please, let me see he--”

Steven sat up in bed, panting heavily. Tats was up too, clutching his slumber pal to his chest. They made eye contact, searching the other for a reaction. 

Steven whimpered and hopped out of bed, running over to Tats and hugging him. “Oh, Tats, I’m so sorry I ruined your dream!”

“It’s okay, buddy.” Tats said, patting his back. “I can always dream about her later.”

“But I ruined this one…”

“I said it’s okay.” Tats said, in a harsher tone. 

Steven frowned.

Tats sighed. “Sorry… I _am_ a little mad, but it’s not at you. I’m just…” He trailed off, fidgeting with his hands and clasping them together, as if he would grab the right words. “... Y’know?”

Steven didn’t understand, but nodded anyways. 

“... Do you miss her?” He asked.

"Yes. Very much. We hung out every day.”

“I’m sorry… If I couldn’t see Connie, I know I’d be sad…”

“No, Steven, it’s okay. Being here ain’t that bad.”

Steven looked at him doubtfully.

“I mean it!” Tats reassured. “Plus, when I go back, I’ll see her again. So don’t worry about it. Just, uh, go back to bed, okay?”

“... Okay.”

Steven got up and headed off to bed again, the guilt still weighing on his shoulders, even after Tats went back to sleep. He had ruined Tats dream, and he might have been the reason that they were all here in the first place. _He_ was having fun with them around, but what if the feeling wasn't mutual? Did they not like it here? Did they not like _him?_

He didn’t have any dreams after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EVERYONE SAY THANK YOU PIXEL!!! THEY DREW ALL THAT COMIC!!! FOR THIS!!! Sorry pix but im gonna sing ur praises non-stop bc u deserve it. 
> 
> Alright, hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! PLEASE leave a comment they're what make this whole thing possible! Without your encouragement and support, ITT would not exist. So sound off in comments with your thoughts!


	5. Shades of Pink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven goes into P's dream to help him stop having nightmares

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //tw manipulation? abuse? and calling people "pets"

Steven had been going into people’s dreams a  _ lot _ lately. At first, it was cool-- he got to see what everyone was up to and visit them! But, sometimes, he saw upsetting things. Like how much Tats missed Connie, or how Lapis and Jasper felt while in Malachite, or flashes of what happened to Strawberry… Apparently, it had something to do with the giant green hand that came to Earth and Jasper. He didn’t know much else.

Steven had been avoiding sleep since then, and whenever he went into someone’s dream he immediately woke up. The others had noticed how tired he was, but he told them he was fine. 

Tonight was another dream-filled night. 

He had woken up about three times already, failing to stay awake afterwards. He groaned and let himself drift through the empty space between dreams, shutting his eyes so he didn’t see anything accidentally.

But apparently closing your eyes doesn’t  _ work _ in dreams. He could see everything, no matter if his eyes were shut.

“GREAT!” Steven exclaimed, frustrated, as he landed in what appeared to be a throne room. There were four thrones: one blue, one yellow, one white, and one pink. On the pink one was P in his frilly outfit.

P sat regally on his throne, shoulders tense and eyes staring forward into nothing. He caught sight of Steven and jolted, staring at him.

“Steven!?” He whisper-shouted, looking around nervously. “What are-- how are you  _ here _ ?”

“I, um, accidentally came in.” Steven admitted sheepishly. “I’m really sorry, P, I didn’t mean to go into your mind.”

“Oh. This… is a dream?” P asked, looking around. “Huh… I don’t think I’ve ever had a lucid dream before…”

He stepped down from his throne gingerly. “Does that mean that I can do whatever I want?”

“Um, I think so?” Steven shrugged. 

P squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated, but nothing happened. He sighed and sat down on the palace floor, cheek resting in his palm. “Nothin’ ever good happens in this crummy place…”

“What is this place anyways?” Steven asked, looking up at the massive white throne. “It sure looks fancy!”

P furrowed his brows in confusion, then gasped. “Oh my gosh. You don’t know yet, do you?”

“Know what?” 

“...” P bit his lip. “Do you know who Pink Diamond is?”

“N...o…?” Steven tilted his head. “Should I?”

“No, no. You shouldn’t. Not yet.” P said, twiddling his thumbs nervously. “Don’t mention her to the gems. I think they’re already suspicious of why I--”

He cut himself off, face flushing red.

“Suspicious? Of what?” Steven asked, concern growing. “I-Is this something I shouldn’t be seeing? I’m really sorry! I- I can’t control who’s dream I go into or- or--”

“It’s okay, Steven. This isn’t your fault.” P sighed, getting up. 

He glanced around again, the only noises around the palace behind his shoes moving against the floor. It was almost suffocating. He hummed to himself and walked over to Steven.

“Since you’re here… do you wanna hang out? I-I think I’d be fun, at least. Maybe we could dream up something cool?”

Before Steven could answer, the ground shook with a loud boom. Steven fell back and covered his ears, P doing the same. P looked up at something behind Steven and gasped, crossing his arms over his chest in a strange salute. Steven got to his feet and looked behind him to see what P was saluting to. 

“GIANT WOMAN!” He gasped, stars in his eyes.

A luminous, monochrome, gem stood before them. She was at least 90 feet tall, hair almost touching the ceiling. Her arms were extended outwards, her starry black and white cape glimmering in the light.  


Steven giggled and cupped his hands around his mouth “Hey! I really like your cape!!!” He shouted.

“Steven!” P hissed, grabbing him by the collar and yanking him to his side. “Shut up!”

“What is the meaning of this?!” The white gem boomed, glaring down at Steven scrutinizingly. P gulped.

“He is… a human from the zoo.” P answered timidly.  


“What’s he doing out? And why is he out of the zoo uniform?”

“He… um… is a new arrival. I like him. May I keep him?”  


Steven looked at P in confusion. “Zoo? What? Keep me? I’m not a pet!”

“Um.” P sweat. “Go with it, okay?”

The white gem huffed snootily. “I can’t  _ believe _ you would ask such a ridiculous thing! Honestly, Pink, you think I’d let you keep  _ two _ pets?”

“Two?” Steven muttered to himself.

Suddenly an older Connie stood beside P. She was saluting as well. P sighed in relief at her arrival.

“Please, White.” P bowed. 

Steven looked up at the gem. Apparently, her name was White. How creative. 

"No!" White huffed. "These pets are distracting you from what's _really_ important! Honestly, I can't leave you alone for a second! You're so _irresponsible_ , Starlight."   


P whimpered.

Steven looked over at P, who was close to tears. Steven looked back up at White and marched up to her.

“Hey! Don’t be mean to my friend!”

“Steven!” P gasped. “Stop!! She’ll hurt you!”

“This is a  _ dream _ , P!” 

P blinked.

“... Oh, right.”

P smirked shakily and looked up at White, marching up to her as well and cupping his hands around his mouth.  
  
_ “HEY! _ SCREW YOU!”

White gasped in offense and raised up her heel. P paled. 

“Uh o--.”

Steven woke up in a cold sweat. He shuddered and grabbed his teddy bear, hugging it close. That dream was weird… and violent. Something was going on with P… 

He didn’t want to go into P’s dream without his consent, but P seemed somewhat relieved that he was there…

Steven groaned and got out of bed, resolving to just ask P if he could help him straight out. He took three stuffed animals with him: one for P, one for him, and one for Strawberry, just in case.

He opened up Rose’s Room and stepped in, taking a look around. 

“Wow…” Steven murmured. Rose’s Room looked so peaceful… 

P was laying down in his cloud, preoccupied with his thoughts. He glanced over at Steven when he came in and waved tiredly. 

“Hey.” He whispered as Steven sat on his cloud bed with him. “Sorry about earlier…”

“Don’t be.” Steven whispered back, setting a stuffed pink bunny on P’s chest. P gasped softly and aww’d, hugging it close. 

“Thanks.” He smiled. Steven smiled back, but his mind was on other things.

“So…” He began nervously. “Um… do you have those dreams a lot?”

“Yeah…” P sighed. “I just-- it’s so scary there. You won’t understand for a long time, and hopefully you never do, but… that place is very bad. I can’t escape.”

“You’re trapped there?” Steven frowned. 

“Well, I suppose I could leave, but the punishment would be  _ severe _ … I should go back home, see my family and friends outside of the palace, but… I’m just so scared.”

“...” Steven put a hand on his shoulder. “Well… you’re out now!”

“But as soon as I go back, I’m in the palace again.” 

“Oh.” Steven frowned. “... Um. I came in here to ask you if maybe… you wanted help with your dreams? I mean- I didn’t want to go into your mind the first time, but maybe I could protect you or something? I-I’m sorry if it’s weird or invasive or…” 

P cut him off. “I’d love that, Steven. Thank you.” Steven smiled in relief and laid down next to P on the cloud bed, yawning. 

“Mm~ Okay! Ready when you are!”

P chuckled and looked at Steven, fondly considering him before he nodded and shut his eyes. Steven did the same, and soon the warm cloud wrapped around them as they drifted off to sleep.

P and Steven were in the palace throne room again. P glanced around quickly before grabbing Steven’s hand and dashing for the exit.

“C’mon, let’s get outta here.”

They ran out of the throne room and down a winding hallway, lined with walls that stared at them and whispered to each other. They rounded a corner and quartz soldiers saluted them on their way. They headed down some stairs, passed a pearl with a cracked eye, and then ran past the human zoo. Steven glanced inside, only managing a brief peek, but saw his dad and himself, around thirteen, dressed in the zoo clothes and relaxing.

Finally, they were out on a balcony, looking over the bright lights and colours of Homeworld.

“This is my favourite spot in the palace.” P said, leaning against the railing. “It’s just so…  _ colourful _ . The lights really make space that much more beautiful.”

Steven looked up at the stars for a moment before glancing back at where they came. Everything they passed was gone, replaced with a generic hallway. Steven turned back to the view.

“It’s cool…” He commented, leaning against the railing too. “Is this… ‘Homeworld’?”

“Yes. Even though it's bad, it’s citizens aren’t. I’m fighting every day for them. And for Earth.”

P frowned and put his cheek in his hand. “But I haven’t exactly made much progress.”

“Why’s that?” Steven asked.

_ “PINK!” _

Startled, P and Steven turned towards the source of the voice. A yellow gem, around 40 feet tall, stood with her arms crossed in the doorway. P gulped and saluted her. 

“What are you doing?” She sneered.

“H-Hi, Yellow!” P greeted. “I was looking at Homeworld! It is very beautiful.”

“Indeed, it is.” Yellow said. “... What’s she doing here?” Yellow pointed at Steven. 

Steven frowned. “She? I’m not a she…”

P glanced at him, eyes widening for a moment, then narrowing in confusion, before he turned back to Yellow. 

“... Connie, um… is with me at all times, you know that.”

“Are you getting  _ smart  _ with me?”

Steven glanced between them, feeling something brush against his shoulder. He gasped and grabbed it, finding it to be his hair. His skin was darker, too. His eyes widened as he finally looked down at himself. He was Connie! 

“I’ve had enough of your games, Pink!” Yellow shouted. Steven tuned back in. P was holding back tears, shaking. “You are a  _ Diamond! _ You need to act like it! This pet is distracting you from your duties!”

“She isn’t my pet.” P mumbled.

“What was that?”

P bowed his head. “... Nothing. Sorry.”

Steven pursed his lips as the two were talking, then moved to comfort P. 

“What are you doing?” Yellow sneered.

“Comforting him!” Steven fired back. “Because you’re being mean!”

_ “Excuse me!?” _

P gasped in horror. “Connie, no!”

“I’m not Connie!” 

P furrowed his brows. “What…? That’s not how this went…”

Steven frowned. “Huh?”

“Pink, control your pet!”

P bit his lip and stood up shakily. He looked at Steven and gently patted his shoulder.

“P-please… quiet?”

Steven shook his head. “P! No! I’m not Connie! Please, we need to figure out how to stop these nightmares!”

P stared at him. “That’s not what you sa--”   
  
Suddenly, Yellow grabbed Steven, yanking him away from P. Steven shouted, struggling against her hold. “Augh!!! P!!!”

P whimpered, taking a step forward. “Let her-- uh-- let him! Go!”

The dream began to crack apart. Yellow squeezed Steven. Steven gasped for air as he was crushed.

“STOP! PLEASE!” P begged, dropping to his knees as tears pooled in his eyes. “I-I’ll behave… I won’t let Connie distract me anymore. I promise.”

“Promise, hm?” Yellow set down Steven. Steven gasped, clutching his stomach and coughing.

“Yes. I’m sorry, Yellow.” P said. 

Steven looked over at him with bleary eyes. He quickly sat up and wiped them, staring intensely at P. Or… whoever that was.

In P’s place stood a small pink figure with light pink curly hair. Steven looked down at himself, it seemed he was back to normal again, but every so often somebody else’s body would be imprinted on his own, wavering and flickering. One of them was Connie, the other had pink skin, and the final one had gray skin. He looked back up to P again, confusion evident on his face.

“Good.” Yellow said, leaving. “I expect to see you in the Extraction Chamber later.”

She ducked under the doorway, heels clicking as she left. After a moment of silence, filled only with P(?)’s quiet sobs, Steven looked to him.

“P?” He croaked out.

The pink gem's face looked up to him, and she paled.

They woke up

Steven looked over at P, who was staring at him with the same wide eyes

“I-- I’m so sorry--” 

Steven quickly hugged him. “No, don’t be. It was my fault. I promise, next time we’ll beat those nightmares, okay?”

P nodded slowly and hugged him close. Steven let him hold him for as long as he needed to.

Once P finally let go, Steven patted his shoulder. “Same time next night…?”

“Y-yeah.” P nodded. “Same time next night.”

Steven hunkered down in P’s bed again, both boys extremely tired. They didn’t spare a glance at one another before shutting their eyes and heading off to sleep. Both of them had one goal in mind:  _ To finally stop these nightmares _ .

They were in the palace again. P laid down on the floor and sighed. 

“So.” He said.

Steven laid down, too. “So.”

“They’re gonna show up again.” P said. 

“Can’t you stop them with dream magic?” He responded.

“No-pe.” P said, popping the ‘p’. He sighed curtly. “Thanks for helping me out Steven, but I think that I'm unhelpable.”

“No way!” Steven said. “Plus, I think I know what’s bothering you now!”

“You do?” P sat up. 

“The Diamonds! They’re super mean!”

“Oh, wow.” P rolled his eyes, laying back down. “Great detective skills, Steven.”

“Hey! I’m trying!” Steven huffed. “It’s pretty  _ freaking _ obvious you don’t like them!”

P stared at him. Steven blushed.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled--”   


_ “WHAT’S WITH ALL THIS YELLING!?” _

P and Steven winced. Steven groaned and looked up. Yellow.

P stood up and saluted Yellow. Steven held his hands and undid his salute. P gaped at him. “Steven!!! What are you doing!?"

“If you want to get rid of these Diamond dreams, you need to stop doing what we’ve been doing every night! Every night, you salute to them, and then they yell at you!”   


“I think not saluting’s just going to make it worse…” P mumbled.

“Why do you even salute if you’re also royalty?”

“Um.” P thought. “... Actually, I don’t think I salute in real life… I don’t know why--”   


“PINK!” Yellow shouted. “EXPLAIN YOURSELF!”

“Uh-- yes!” P stammered, straightening up. “Um, you see, Steven is like Connie! He’s my…”

He paused, glancing at Steven uneasily before sighing. “... My pet…”

“I’m not a pet!” Steven retorted. P winced.

“Control your pet!” Yellow shouted.

P nodded. Steven shook his head. 

“P, please! You’re doing it again! We need to break the pattern somehow!” 

P blinked. “Break the pattern? How?”

“I…” Steven frowned. “Don’t know… Just do something random!”

P nodded. “Okay. Um.” He looked up at Yellow, who looked back judgmentally. He gulped and glanced back at Steven. Steven gave him a thumbs up.

“Hey, Yellow!” P called. “... Look at this!”

He did a handstand and clapped his feet together.

Yellow laughed. “Oh, Pink! How funny! Just like your mother!”

P wilted under her laughter then sank to the ground, turning into the pink gem again. He sighed and pulled his knees up to his chest, burying his hands in his cotton candy hair.

“No! No!” Steven fretted. “Uh-- do something even more random!”

P sighed and looked down at himself. “I don’t think I should… She’ll either get mad or laugh at me…”

“P!” Steven yelled. “Just do it!”   


P stared at him. 

“PINK! CONTROL YOUR PET!” Yellow commanded. P nodded and looked to Steven, getting up.

Steven crossed his arms. “Okay… if you won’t do something, I will!”

He looked around quickly, assessing his surroundings. There wasn’t much in the room except for walls, a floor, the thrones, and…

Some potted plants!

He didn’t know if those were there in real life, but he didn’t care. He kicked a plant next to him, breaking it.

P and Yellow gasped in unison.

“Steven!” P scolded. “Stop that!”

“No!” Steven shot back. “We need to keep doing the unexpected! It’s the only way!”

“It’s not going to work!” P pleaded. “Please, I’m just going to have to deal with this for the rest of my life!”

“No, you won’t!” Steven argued, kicking over another plant.

P whimpered and scooped up Steven, holding him still. 

“Pink, I cannot believe you.” Yellow said, pinching her brows together. “I’ve warned you before, but I’m going to have to take away your pets.”   
  
“WHAT!?” P gasped. “No! NO! You can’t do that!”

“Oh, yes, I can! And if you know what’s good for you--"

She snatched up Steven. Steven struggled, shouting out. Yellow squeezed him tight and he coughed, forced quiet. 

“-- you won’t argue anymore. Or do you actually  _ want  _ to go in the tower?”

P paled at that, and Yellow began to walk away, with Steven and now Connie in hand. Steven watched helplessly as P got further and further from him. He reached out a hand to him, silently begging P to do something.

Yellow startled, facing him.

“What did you just say?”   
  
_ “NO!” _ P repeating, body turning neon pink. _ “I WON’T LET YOU BOSS ME AROUND ANYMORE! I’M SICK OF IT! I’VE BEEN ON THIS AWFUL PLANET FOR  _ _MORE THAN A YEAR_ _ , AND I’VE HAD  _ **_ENOUGH_ ** _!” _

“What are you saying…?” Yellow asked, voice trembling. “Pink, are we not doing a good job…?”   
  
Yellow teared up.

“You know how badly I’ve felt since your mother died…”

P recoiled, pink fading. After a moment he cleared his head, shaking it and balling his fists.    


“No, you’ve been doing a  _ horrible _ job.” He said, marching up to her. He ascended the air, standing face to face with her.

“I’m not gonna wait around any longer for the perfect moment to arrive. I’m not  _ waiting _ for my chance. I’m overthrowing your empire, freeing the Earth, and taking you  _ down _ !”   


He took a step forward, shaking the ground and moving Yellow back.

“And I don’t care how long it takes. I’ve waited long  **_enough_ ** !”

He stomped his foot against the ground, rattling the palace and shaking the dream. A moment of stillness passed, and then the room began to tremble. P and Steven looked around in confusion as their surroundings turned to light. Yellow was gone, Steven landing on the palace floor with an "oof". He got up and rushed to P, enveloping him in a hug.

“P! _YOU DID IT!”_ He cheered, squeezing him tight.

“I… I did?” P asked, looking around.

“YES!” Steven grinned. "I’m so proud of you!”

P smiled and hugged him back. “Me too.”

The world faded to white, and they woke up.

Steven was immediately wrapped in a hug.

“Oh, Steven!!!” P beamed. “You’re the best! I can’t believe I did that! As soon as I go back, I am  _ definitely _ doing what I  _ should’ve  _ done a long time ago. No more Pink Diamond for me! I’m gonna finally free Homeworld  _ and _ Earth!”

“That's great!” Steven slurred. He didn’t process anything he said. His eyes shut. “I’m so… happy for… y…”

He passed out.

\----

He woke up much later on his bed, surrounded by all the Stevens. He groaned and rubbed his eyes. “Guys…? What happened?”

“You passed out.” P murmured, eyebrows drawn together in worry.

“I did?” Steven sat up. “Oh, jeez, I’m sorry! I must’ve scared you!”

“Yeah, you sure did!” He responded.

“P told us everything.” Denim said, sitting on Steven's bed. “While it was nice of you to help him, Steven, you weren’t helping  _ yourself _ … Don’t think we haven’t noticed you haven't been sleeping the past few days.”

“And we think we know why.” Tats said awkwardly. “When you came into my dream, you probably felt really bad for ruining it.”

“I did.” Steven sighed.

“But you shouldn’t.” He said, putting his hand on Steven’s shoulder. “Steven, just because you messed up  _ one _ dream, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t sleep! You have to take care of yourself.”

Steven looked up anxiously, fiddling with his blanket. “B-but what if I go into another person’s dreams? I don’t want to ruin any more…”   


“Dreams aren’t that important.” P said. “Well, mine was, but you could’ve asked one of them to help me if you were getting tired. We  _ all _ have that power, remember?”

“Oh.” Steven blushed. “Sorry, I just-- I just wasn’t… thinking about myself.”

“I understand.” Twoie said. “It can be hard to just let go when someone is struggling… but if helping someone else is _hurting_ **_you…_** you have to know when to step back.”  


“Or ask for help yourself.” 420 added.

Steven nodded. “You’re right. I-I’m sorry, guys…”

“Don’t be.” Twoie said, hugging him. “Just promise us you’ll go to bed on time tonight, okay? And don’t feel bad if you dream drift.”

Steven smiled. “I’ll try.”

\----

That night, Steven went to bed on time, just as promised. When he dreamed, he ended up with Twoie. Twoie’s dream was nonsensical and abstract. Twoie greeted him with open arms and reassured Steven that it was okay he was here. For a few minutes, he and Twoie just talked together about random things and they conjured up stuff in the dream to play with. Steven had a great time and before he knew it, he was slipping out of Twoie’s dream and into his own restful slumber.

He woke up the next morning refreshed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please leave a comment if you enjoyed! I consume them for power
> 
> Comic Page descriptions linked here: 
> 
> https://sutimetravelau.tumblr.com/post/636534292919533568/image-descriptions-for-accessibility-chapter-5


	6. Eight's a Crowd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven finally gets to talk to Peridot, but his older selves keep getting in the way.

“...Ven…”

“Steven…”

“STEVEN!”

Steven bolted upright, rubbing his eyes. “Whuh- huh-? I-I’m up!” He babbled, looking around blearily.

“Can you wake him up a little nicer, please?” Twoie groaned from downstairs.

“Sorry!” 420 called. He smiled back at Steven, sitting on his bed. “Come downstairs, we made breakfast!”

“Alright…” Steven mumbled, getting out of bed. 420 hopped down the stairs and ran over to the kitchen, grabbing the fluffiest pancakes on the table. Twoie scoffed in offense. 

“Hey! Those were mine!”

“Hah, sorry.” 420 smiled, taking a bite. Twoie groaned again, gripping his spatula angrily.

The downstairs was bustling with all the Stevens. 420, Denim, Hero, and Twoie were at the kitchen table while the rest were crowded around the table near the couch. Everyone was talking, moving around and eating. 

Steven rubbed his temples. _Too much noise…_

“How’re you doing, buddy?” 420 asked. 

Steven shrugged. “Doin’ okay.”

“You sure? You seem tired.”

“Mm.” He shrugged again. “I guess today’s just gonna be a lazy day.”

Denim looked up from his breakfast. “Aw, that’s a shame, I thought you were going to help us talk to Peridot today.”

Steven gasped, wide awake now. “I can do that!? Today!?? Awesome!!!”

“I dunno if that’s a good idea, actually…” Twoie said. “Peridot could be dangerous. I mean, she's not exactly friendly right now...”

“Psh, she’s nothin’.” Hero smirked. “If she acts up, I’ll just bubble her again!”

Twoie rolled his eyes. “Uh-huh. ‘Cause you’re  _ so _ strong and  _ amazing _ …”

“You think so?” Hero beamed. 

Twoie chewed his pancakes, declining to answer.

420 finished his plate and put it by the sink, and Tats happened to walk up at the same time to do just that. Their plates clinked loudly and Tats decided to try and stack his on top of 420’s. 420 grinned and put his on top instead. Tats looked at him and attempted to put his plate on top. 420 tried to top him again and soon they were having a little play fight over who’s plate gets to be on top. 

After a few minutes of their antics, Twoie groaned and buried his head in his hands. “Guys, it doesn’t MATTER! Just SET DOWN YOUR PLATES SIDE BY SIDE!”

Strawberry stood on the sidelines, trying to find a way to just put his plate down without getting caught in whatever was going on by the sink.  


“I’m not losing!” 420 laughed, attempting to sweep Tats plate into the sink, it collided against the edge and missed, crashing on the ground. Tats and 420 flushed in embarrassment. 

Strawberry came over and picked up a shard, sticking his tongue out.

“DON’T LICK IT!!!” Twoie shouted. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?”

Strawberry stared at him. “...” He tapped two pieces together, indicating he was going to reassemble the plate with his spit.

“OH!” 420 gasped. “Good idea!” He leaned down and stuck out his tongue.

“Guys, no!” Twoie grabbed them both and moved them away. “That’s stupid!”

“ _ You’re _ stupid.” 420 retorted childishly.

“That’s rude.” Denim said.

“Wha--” Twoie glared at him. “How is me--”

“Not you, him.”

“Mleh.” 420 stuck his tongue out at him. Strawberry chuckled.

“Don’t encourage him.” Twoie deadpanned.

“Hey, 420.” Tats said.

“Yeah?” 420 looked over.

“Guess what?”

“What?”

“I win.”

420 gaped in playful offense. “NO!!!”

“Can you two _please_ be qui--”

_ “What are you guys doing?” _ P called curiously from the sofa. 

Steven decided it was time to tune them out. Sometimes having seven more people in his house got a little chaotic. It was fun at first, something to fill the silence, but now the silence was way  _ too _ filled and he kind of missed those quiet mornings alone with the gems.

“Can we go talk to Peridot now…?” He asked Denim. Denim nodded and got up, gesturing for him to follow.

Twoie, eager to get away from everyone, followed. Tats did as well, wanting to make sure Steven was well protected. Hero seemed to take up the mantle of trying to control 420 and SB while P went to grab a dust pan.

They entered the bubble chamber, all of the older Stevens staring up at the bubbles in slight unease. Steven ignored them and looked around for Peridot’s bubble. He gasped and pointed up at it.

“There! That one!”

Denim snapped out of his daze and nodded, hopping up to grab it. He floated down and looked at everyone.

“We ready?"

“Uh, one question.” Steven raised his hand. “What are we trying to find out again?”

Denim furrowed his brows, thinking.

Twoie thought, too. “Yeah… when are we right now?”

“Well, what do you want to know, Steven?” Denim asked. 

“I wanna know… why she’s on Earth.” Steven answered. “And why she doesn’t wanna be my friend.”

“... Not about… anything else?” Tats asked. “Not the Cluster or anything?”

“What’s the Cluster?” Steven tilted his head.

“Oh.” Tats paled. “Oh, man.” He looked to Twoie and Denim. Twoie shared the same look with him, and Denim looked down at Peridot’s bubble in thought. Steven frowned.

“Um, what’s that look for?” He frowned.

“Nothing, nothing.” Tats waved his hands, then looked to the others. “... Do we need to do this? I mean, we know what to do, right? Since…”

“Yeah, yeah.” Twoie nodded. “We just need to go and start the drill, don’t we?”

“But we don’t have a drill.” Denim replied. “Peridot built it for us. We don’t know how to do it.”

“Pearl could do it.” Tats said. “She’s smart.”

“But would it work?” 

“We still need to let her go sometime.” Twoie said. 

“I wanna talk to her!” Steven piped up, catching everyone’s attention. “E-even if we don’t need to know anything important… She doesn’t deserve to be bubbled like that forever. I wanna get to know her.”

Tats looked at him softly. 

Denim smiled. “Alright. We’ll talk to her.”

He popped the bubble and stood back and Peridot’s gem lifted up into the air. She formed, shorter than Steven remembered, and she dropped to the ground. She scrambled to her feet immediately, looking around in a panic. “Huh???” 

Steven gasped, taking in her short stature. “Oh my gosh… you’re so…  _ cuuuuteee!!!~ _ ”

“MY LIMB ENHANCERS!!!” She screeched. “WHERE ARE MY LIMB ENHANCERS!?!?!?”

“Aw, you’re like an angry little slice of pie!” Steven cooed.

“Stop talking!” Peridot huffed, flushing. “I demand to know what this place is and where I--”

She cut herself off, glancing up at the gemstones floating up on the ceiling. She also now spotted the other Stevens, sitting on the floor and watching their interaction.

“Oh my stars. You’re going to harvest me?” She whimpered, putting her face in her hands.  


Steven furrowed his brows. 

“I-I mean--” He stammered, confused at her question, before she slapped him. 

“OW! That hurt!”

“... It did?” Peridot asked hopefully.

Steven rubbed his cheek, pouting. “Yeah, a lot…” 

“Nyeh!” Peridot smacked him again, harder this time. 

“Ow!”

**“Hey.”**

Peridot startled, staring back at Tats, who was now standing.

**“Don’t hit him.”** He said, crossing his arms.

“I-it’s okay!” Steven said. “I can handle it.”

He was ignored as Peridot attempted to smack Tats in the face, too, but he was too tall and just stepped back. She seethed and jumped up and down, trying to hit him. He smirked, unable to keep himself from chuckling a bit. 

“STOP BEING SO TALL!!!” 

“Stop being so short.” He snorted. “You’re never gonna be able to reach my face, y’know.”

“...” Peridot stopped for a moment, considering that. She pulled back her fist again. Tats just chuckled again.

“Peridot, please. Just go talk to-- OWCH!”

He groaned and fell over, holding his crotch.

Twoie tried to stifle a snicker. Tats shot him a look.

“YES!” Peridot yelled triumphantly, moving in to punch him some more. Steven gasped and jogged over, almost grabbing her before Denim moved in and held her arms.

“Peridot, no hitting please.” He requested gently. "Why don't we just talk?"  


“I’LL HIT ALL I WANT!”

Denim sighed and held her wrists. She gasped and struggled against his hold. “No! No! I will not allow myself to be captured without putting up a fight!!!” 

She kicked him in the shin and he winced, letting go of her for a moment. She began to sprint for the door.

“Oh no you don’t!” Twoie said, chasing after her. Tats got up to help, grabbing onto the tubes and leaping for her. He grabbed her leg and yanked as she screamed at them, holding onto her own tube. Tats grit his teeth, feeling akin to a parent trying to pull their child off of the playground while they had a tantrum. 

Steven took a step forward to help too, but before he could, Tats flung Peridot to the ground. She smacked into it and groaned in pain.

“What is wrong with you!?" Twoie gaped. “You could have hurt her!!”

Tats panted, hopping down from the tubes and pinning Peridot in place. “You're _welcome_.” He deadpanned.  


“I’m with Twoie, you could have hurt her.” Denim crossed his arms.

“She was gonna get away!" Tats protested. "I had to to something!"   


“Hmm…” Denim thought.

“Wh- Don’t side with him!” Twoie sputtered.

“ Let me go you insufferable mega clod!” Peridot shouted. She bit down on Tats hand and hissed in pain. He didn't let go and instead sat down, keeping her in place with all his limbs. She struggled more and he squeezed her tighter.

“Stop or we're gonna have to poof you!"  


“TATS!” Twoie and Denim chastised at the same time. Tats blushed. “What?? This is an _interrogation_!”

_ And it’s going horribly… _ Steven thought to himself, head in hands.

“It’s not an interrogation! We’re just having a friendly chat!” Twoie argued.   


“Oh,  _ yeah _ , a friendly chat.” Tats rolled his eyes. “A friendly chat in an unknown location, with people she doesn’t know, talking to her without her consent. Okay, yeah, want me to put some coffee on while I’m at it? Get her some cookies?”

“I can’t believe I’m related to you...” Twoie dragged a hand along his face.

“Fighting solves nothing.” Denim said calmly, placing himself between them. “Both of you need to calm down.”

“What a nice way of telling me to shut up.” Tats mumbled.

Denim glared at him.

Peridot struggled again. Tats grit his teeth. “ _PERIDOT!_ Quit it!"  


“Hey, no yelling!” Steven protested, running up. “ _ I’m  _ the interrogator so let me talk to her."  


Tats sighed and laid back, letting her go. “Fine.”   


_ “Don’t let her go!--” _ Steven called at the same time as Twoie but it was too late: Peridot had already scampered up the tubes and was close to the doorway again. Tats made no move to stop her.

“What are you doing!? Help us!” Denim scolded as he attempted to climb the tubes.  


“You said to stay out of it!” Tats bickered.  


“WHEN DID WE SAY THAT!?” Twoie shouted back.

“GUYS!” Steven yelled above them, getting frustrated. “SHE ESCAPED!”

All of them looked up to the doorway, barely catching a glimpse of Peridot as she ran away.  


“Uh oh.” Twoie muttered.

All of them scrambled for the doorway. Twoie burst in to the main room first and shouted:  _“PERIDOT'S ESCAPING!"_   


All of them looked towards him and then spotted Peridot, who was running on all fours towards the door. 

The house erupted into chase scene chaos. 

P and Denim seemed to be making the most headway, almost grabbing her a couple of times. Strawberry stood in front of the door like a goalie, shaking and hoping she didn’t actually come for him. Twoie was yelling at everyone to do better, which wasn’t working. Tats was more aggressive than need be. 420 was half-heartedly swiping at her, his reaction time slow for reasons that were obvious. And Hero...

"Don't worry, I've got her!" Hero announced victoriously, before tripping on his cape and face planting at the bottom of the stairs lamely. 

Steven shut his eyes and put his hands over his ears. This was too much... All he wanted was to help and now his other selves were running around the house like crazy! This was supposed to be a nice chat with Peridot which would hopefully lead to a wonderful friendship, not hunting her so they could force her to talk to them! 

_ “I GOT HER!”  _ P yelled, holding her down. Everyone came in to help as she squirmed, shouting and shrieking.

“GET OFF ME! THE STEVENS ARE A PLAGUE TO THIS WORLD!!!”   


Steven whimpered, covering his ears more. Everyone was so loud…

“Okay, let me have her.” Tats said.

“What? She’ll get up again!”

“But we need to--”

“GUYS can we NOT fight again!?” Twoie complained.  


“You’re the one escalating this!” P shot back.

Denim buried his head in his hands. “Stop talking, just--”

“I think we sh--”

“Guys, Steven has to--”

“She--”

“Peridot don’t bite me!”

The bickering kept going, getting more heated in part to how exhausted and frustrated everyone was after trying to chase Peridot.

The noise overwhelmed Steven, and all the events of today and the past week started to close in on him. The bickering got louder and louder and louder until finally Steven snapped.

**_“WILL ALL OF YOU JUST BE QUIET!?”_ **

The house was silenced as everyone stared at him in disbelief. Even Peridot stopped struggling.

Steven looked at them, tears in his eyes from how overwhelmed he was. “Seriously! I-- I was so excited that I was gonna be able to _do_ something for once! But you guys just won't stop fighting!"  


He sniffled, wiping his eyes. “I thought it’d be so cool to have seven new mes… but you’re all just being mean to each other! A-and you won’t let me do anything on my own anymore...”

Denim stood, moving his shades to his head. “Steven--”

“And I’m sorry, maybe it’s selfish, but- but before you guys came here I was helping out a lot. The Crystal Gems finally trusted me! I’m a Crystal Gem, and- and so I should be able to help, but you guys keep sticking me at home or h-hiding things from me!”

Strawberry and P winced.

Steven looked away sheepishly. “... That- that doesn’t mean I don’t like having you guys around b-but sometimes… you’re all a bit overwhelming. I mean… Before this, most of my mornings were just me… but now I have  _ seven _ new people here! It’s… it’s a lot… and… and…”

“And you feel like we’re taking over.” Denim finished softly, crouching down in front of him. Steven nodded. “... I’m sorry, I-I don’t wanna be rude--”

“You’re not being rude.” Denim said, holding his hands. Steven looked up at him. Denim smiled, kind eyes showing.

“I understand what you’re talking about. When I was your age, I wanted to do everything I could to help out my family with what they were dealing with. And being ignored and… pushed aside. That hurt me. It made me feel like… I wasn’t important. But, Steven, you are _very_ important. You are a Crystal Gem, and we can’t do this without you, okay? It doesn't matter how many missions you go on, as long as you're here, you're helping."  


Steven wiped his eyes and smiled. “You mean that…?”

“Yes.” Denim nodded. “... And I’m sorry we’re all a bit overwhelming… we never asked to come here either.”

“I know…” Steven muttered.

“It’s, uh, a lot for all of us.” Denim finished, looking back at everyone. Everyone nodded, agreeing.

“Yeah, cooking for eight is exhausting.” Twoie chuckled.

“Everyone’s so loud all the time.” 420 complained.

“And the house is kinda cramped.” Tats said. 

“Being in the past sucks, too.” P sighed.

Denim turned back to Steven. “See? We’re all going through a tough time right now, but we have to pull through this together, okay?”

“Okay…” Steven nodded.

P spoke. “Maybe you can come chill out in Rose’s Room when you’re overwhelmed? I do that sometimes. Or I go to the beach.”

Steven smiled at him, grateful. “Thank you, P. That sounds great.”

Tats picked up Peridot, holding her at arms length as she dangled down like a cat. “Soo… we still having that ‘nice chat’?”

Steven looked up at Peridot.

“... Peridot, how are you feeling?” He asked.  


“Confused and angry.” She deadpanned.

“Do you wanna talk? Just me and you?”

“I want you to LET ME GO!” She squirmed. Tats sighed, keeping his hold. Some of the others helped him out.

“I- I’m sorry, I don’t think we can do that…” Steven bit his lip. “But, um, m-maybe we could--”

The warp pad sounded off, drawing the attention of everyone in the house. The gems warped in, looking a little tired.

“We  _ still _ haven’t found Malachite…” Pearl sighed. “We looked  _ everywhere _ ! Maybe she’s just too deep!”

“Or she unfused.” Garnet said.

“I don’t wanna look anymoreee.” Amethyst whined.

“I know, Amethyst, but we need to keep looking. Giving up isn't an..."  


Pearl stared at Peridot.

“...”

Peridot stared at Pearl.

“...”

“...”

_ “WHAT IS  _ **_SHE_ ** _ DOING OUT!?”  _ Pearl squawked, drawing her spear as the rest of the team drew their weapons.

Tats gulped. “Uhhhhhhh…”

“RETREAT!” Peridot shouted, kicking Tats in the face and sprinting out the door.

The Stevens froze, staring between the door and each other, everyone unsure if they should chase her after what Steven said.

“WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING?! GO AFTER HER!” Pearl shouted as she ran out the door. Everyone followed suit and Steven did too, shouting at the gems to stop. They didn’t hear him, Amethyst trapping Peridot in her whip and yanking her towards Garnet, who squeezed around her middle and poofed her.

She bubbled her and sent her off, putting her hands on her hips disapprovingly as she faced the Stevens.

Pearl sighed and put away her spear, frazzled. “How did she get out?? We bubbled her!”

“We, um, let her out.” Steven mumbled. 

“WHAT!?” Pearl gawked. “Why on Earth would you do something like that?”

“Yeah, dude, she’s dangerous!”

“Steven.” Garnet put her hands on her hips. “Tell us why you released her.”

“U-um…” Steven bit his lip. “... Well, we just wanted to talk! I wanted to know more about her and… um… She knows stuff that we don’t!”

“Like what?” Pearl asked.

“Uh… I don’t know! That’s why we had to ask her.” Steven concluded.

Pearl sighed and pinched her brows. “Steven, you put yourself at a huge risk just to ask questions?”

Garnet moved forward, putting her hand in his hair. “I appreciate what you were trying to do, Steven, but we bubbled her for a reason.”

“I think Steven’s right.” Tats said. “Peridot  _ does _ know things we don’t know. And she can help us with stuff.”

“Like what?” Pearl asked again, crossing her arms.

“Um…” Tats faltered. “... W-well… there might be… something coming to hurt us and in  _ my _ timeline at least she was a big help. A-Also she’s my friend. In the future."  


All of the Stevens agreed, nodding along. Peridot  _ was  _ their friend.

“Seriously?” Amethyst quirked a brow. _“Her?_

Tats smiled sheepishly. “She mellows out.”

“Well, we can figure that out later.” Pearl resolved, moving to head back inside. “But not today. I’ve done enough and need a  _ long _ break.”

“Yeah! I’m hungry!” Amethyst hopped up the stairs.

Slowly everyone filed in. 

Steven sighed, guess they were gonna keep her bubbled for now…

Denim put his hand in Steven’s hair. Steven looked up. Denim smiled at him.

“You did a good job today, Steven. I’m proud of you.”

Steven raised his brows. “You mean it?”

“Yeah.” He ruffled his hair, making Steven giggle. “Without you, none of us would’ve calmed down. You’re a real good mediator.”

“Aw, shucks.” Steven waved a hand at him. Denim chuckled. 

"Let's head in. Wouldn't wanna keep everyone waiting, would we?"

“Okay!” Steven held Denim's hand, going inside with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so sorry y'all there was going to be a comic for hero falling over (i might still draw it) but my app decided to be a bitch and deleted all my work! no fuckin reason! im so :(((. maybe i'll update it later with the comic but right now it's late im tired and y'all aint getting it yet
> 
> also im actually kinda proud of this chap? not extremely, but compared to the original this is LEAGUES better. I hope y'all can see the difference between my current writing and my old shitty writing lol (even tho i do still touch up old chapters for this series)
> 
> leave a comment if you enjoyed! they fuel me.


	7. Twoie Road Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Stevens and their father go on a roadtrip together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no trigger warnings! It's just fluff here :)

Steven beamed and paused the game, hopping down to his dad. “I DO! I DO!” 

Greg grunted as Steven leapt into his arms, managing to stay upright and hold him. He chuckled. “Alright! Any other take...r...s?” He trailed off, meaning to look at Pearl, but instead catching sight of Hero. “Oh.”

Hero smiled. “I’d like to!”

“Count me in!” 420 cheered. Soon the whole group was up and excited to go.

“W-whoa, guys… uh…” Greg chuckled nervously. “Sorry,... _everybody-_ I'm not sure you can go."

The Stevens frowned. Hero pouted, turning back to dishes and hiding his hurt.

“But Dad… you asked if anyone wanted to go…” 420 pouted. “Why can’t we go…?”

“Yeah, dad! Why can’t they? We’re all your sons!” Steven said.

Greg cringed. “Uh, Steven, I don’t think they count…”

Strawberry looked down at his dad with shiny puppy dog eyes, making the older man whine in guilt. “Listen, all of you, I can’t take you anyways… the van’s too small!”

“No it’s not!” 420 argued. “I once drove it with the whole Cool Kids gang in the back. It’s real sturdy! Plus, don’t you have the Dondai?”

“'The Dondai'? No? I don’t have a Dondai- and I'm not getting another car anytime soon unless I suddenly get super rich, but," He scoffed and chuckled. "That's not gonna happen!"

“Oh.” 420 frowned.   


"Dad, c'mon!!" Steven pouted, tugging on Greg's shirt. "We can't leave them behind, it's not fair!"  


Greg pressed his lips into a fine line, avoiding Steven's pleading gaze, only to look out and find even more pleading gazes from all the other Stevens. He sighed and finally broke. "Okay... I'll see what I can do."  


"YAY!!!" 420 cheered, kicking his legs childishly. "ROADTRIP!!!"

"Roadtrip!" Tats cheered with him.

The rest of the Stevens seemed happy, too, and Steven gave his dad a grateful hug. Greg hugged him back and looked up at Pearl, who was giving him a look that humorously said: _'good luck'_. He chuckled in response. 

\---- 

"SHOTGUN!" 420 shouted, leaping into the front seat of the van. Everyone had just finished packing, so it was finally time to choose seats.

"Hey!" Twoie protested. "I want front seat!"  


"Too bad, I called it." 420 crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out. Twoie groaned.

"But I _need_ the front!"

420 leaned back. "And why's that?"

"Well, uh," He stammered, thinking. "Because- okay- dad's already _freaked out_ by having all eight of us here, and the one in the fronts going to be the one he sees the most! I just wanna make a good first impression, and since I'm the most normal--"

"Most _NORMAL?!"_ 420 sat up in offense, getting out of his seat to stand to Twoie. "Are you calling the rest of us _abnormal_ _?!"_

Denim, Strawberry, P and Tats who were packing nearby looked over at the two of them. Denim narrowed his eyes at Twoie and Strawberry frowned, hurt.  


"NO! No no no! That's-- that's not what I meant, uh," Twoie backpedalled. "Y'see, uh, what I _meant_ was that--"

420 shoved Twoie up to the side of the van. “Okay, Mr.  _ Normal _ , why don’t you ride on the top since you’re  _ so important _ ?~”

“Yeah!” Tats said, grabbing Twoie under the thighs and hoisting him up. “Mr. _Normal_ rides on top like a parade!!!”   
  
“Guys, no!” Twoie squeaked, struggling. “Stop! I’m sorry!” He looked to the rest of the group. “You guys understand, right!? Help me out!”

“Let me help you!” Hero said, flying up and grabbing Twoie, plonking him on top of the van. Twoie tried to jump off but Hero pushed him back into place. 

“Aw, c’mon, Mr. Normal! Don’t you wanna be on display for everyone to see how  _ normal  _ you are?” 420 shouted up at him. 

“I said I was sorry!” Twoie whined.

“What are you guys doing!?” Greg yelled. Everyone turned to him in surprise. 

Hero flew down and landed on the ground.  “Nothin’.”

“Get off my van!” Greg scolded Twoie.

“They put me up here!” Twoie retorted, embarrassed.

“It’s only because he made fun of us!” 420 pointed out.

Greg put his hands on his hips. “That’s still  _ my  _ van! And if we’re gonna have fights, then no roadtrip.”

A collective “Awww” went through the group. Hero flew up and helped Twoie down. Twoie shook him off huffily and brushed himself before climbing in the back. 

Steven went to the van’s back doors and put his Cheeseburger backpack of supplies in before going around the side. He found himself in the middle of a conversation between Tats, 420, and Hero.

“No, no, I insist, you have shotgun.” Hero said playfully.

“No, you first.” Tats said, opening the door and gesturing inside.

“I couldn’t  _ possibly!~ _ 420, you take it.”

“Oh, never, my good sir, I would  _ never _ after you put Mr. Normal on top!” 420 said, posing dramatically. 

Tats caught sight of Steven. “Oh! Y’know what? Steven, you take shotgun!”

“Um, thanks!” Steven said. Hero and 420 smiled, gesturing inside for him. Tats shut the door when Steven was in and they headed to the back, piling in. The Stevens struggled for a little bit, flopping over each other and getting each other's feet and hands out of their faces. 420 tried to just lay down on Hero, but Hero shoved him off onto Tats, who just accepted it. They laughed and 420 actually rolled off after Tats gave him a gentle push.

“We all comfortable back there?” His Dad asked, looking back at the seven boys. 

“Yeah!” 

“All good.”

“Bit cramped.”

“Someone keeps putting his feet in my face.”

Steven chuckled.

“Alright, let’s get going.” Greg said, turning on the radio and driving off.

They drove for about ten minutes, silent other than occasional chatter and the radio filling the gaps. 

“So, dad, where are we going anyways?” Steven asked. 

“Oh, well, we’re going to Keystone! I met a guy on an internet message board who’s selling car wash brushes for real cheap! I just gotta meet him in Keystone and pick ‘em up!”

“I don’t like those brushes.” Steven said. “They feel weird on your fur.”

There was a snicker from the backseat.

“Well, do you like motels?”

“Probably!

“Well, good, ‘cause it’s too late now.” His dad teased. Steven smiled.

“I can’t wait to get room service!”

“You’re thinking of a  _ hotel _ , we’re going to a  _ motel _ ! It’ll have a  _ pool  _ and  _ free ice _ and it’s right next to The Best Diner in the World!~”

“Wow, sounds awesome!” Steven beamed. “I can’t wait to get there!”

“Me neither!~” 420 called. Greg looked back at him out of the corner of his eye, and then turned back to the road. 

“...”

Greg adjusted his rearview so he could see all seven of them better. “So, uh… you’re  _ all _ Steven?”

“Yep.” 420 said. 

“How do you guys tell each other apart? I mean, well, you  _ look _ different, but what about names and stuff?”

“We all have nicknames Steven and Amethyst gave us.” Twoie said. “I’m Twoie, he’s Hero, that’s Tattoos-- or Tats for short, uh, that’s P, that’s Strawberry--”   
  
“Strawberry?" Greg interrupted. "Why’re ‘ya named that?”

Strawberry stayed silent.

Greg cleared his throat. “You hear me?”

“Strawberry’s named that because it’s his favourite fruit!” Steven chirped. “And, um, sometimes Strawberry can’t talk. He’s selectively mute, I think.”

“Oh.” Greg frowned. “But you’re not selectively mute.”

“Yeah. Something happened to make him that way.” He said.

Strawberry flushed. Denim spoke up, placing a hand on Strawberry's shoulder in comfort. “Hey, Steven? You probably shouldn’t give stuff like that away without Strawberry’s permission...”

“Oh.” Steven frowned. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”

Strawberry signed:  _ It’s okay.  _ And looked away. P patted his back.

Steven bit his lip and sat down, shameful.

“So, uh, what’s your name?” Greg asked. “The guy with the long hair and the sun shirt?”

Twoie opened his mouth. “That’s fou-- MMPH!” 420 slapped his hand over his mouth and smiled nervously. 

“I’m Four… F… ffffuh… Fffforest! Forest! ‘C-cause I got a green shirt?’

Twoie smacked his hand off and stared at him in confusion. Steven leaned over the seat to listen in.

“I thought you were nicknamed 420?” Twoie whispered. 

“Listen, my name being 420’s funny around you guys but this is my  _ dad _ . I don’t want him knowing i'm smokin!”

“What’re you smoking?” Steven asked innocently. 

Greg glanced back at him.

420 jolted, panicking. “Uhhhhhhh-- _B-Barbeque!_ Yep! With my Dad in  _ my  _ timeline! Yep, we do it all-- all the time.” He smiled nervously.

Greg looked at him a moment longer before turning back to the road. 420 sighed in relief.

Tats snickered beside him. 420 elbowed him and whispered for him to shut up. Tats just snickered more. 

A few more minutes passed.

“... So how come you all look different if you’re all Steven but... older?” Greg asked.

“Well,” Denim began. “I personally think it’s like the multiverse theory: We’re all  _ possible _ futures for Steven depending on his choices. Each choice he makes leads him to becoming one of us, or another version we don’t even know about.”

“There are more versions??” Greg asked nervously.

“Millions. Just like you. Or Garnet. Or Pearl… but they probably won’t come here.”   
  
“Oh thank goodness.” Greg sighed. He looked in his rear view and hummed. “So… what’s with the Tattoos, Tattoos? You just wanted to look cool?” He asked, well meaning.

Tattoos bit his lip. “Um… Sure. I regret them now, though, don’t let Steven get any.”

Greg frowned. “Oh, alright… uh, what about the rest of you? What makes you- uh- different?”

Steven piped up. “Well, Tats is me if I got tattoos, four twe- er- I mean Forest is me but… lazier I guess? I dunno. Maybe it has something to do with that Barbeque?”

Tats snickered knowingly while 420 shrank in his spot.

Steven continued. “Hero's me if I was a _superhero!_ Which is _super_ cool!”

Hero smiled, flattered.

“Twoie is me… uh…”

“If you grow up to be  _ normal _ .” 420 goaded, smirking. Twoie growled. “I said sorry!”

Steven frowned. “Um, anyways, Denim is me if… uh…” He hummed, stumped. “I dunno what makes you different.”

“Me neither.” Denim shrugged. “I’m just the way I am.”

“There has to be  _ something _ .” Twoie said. “Uh, like, did you go to Homeworld?”

“Mhmm.”

“Did you win?”

“Mhmm.”

“Hmm…” Twoie thought. “Anything really important happen?"

“Many things. But I don’t think we can discuss future events too much in front of Steven and Dad.”

“Ah.” Twoie nodded. “Well, what about ‘ _ you know who’ _ and her injector?”

“Her? Oh, yeah, how could I forget? It was just after I finished therapy--”

“Wait, what? You went to therapy?” Twoie raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah…?”

“When?”

“I started at fifteen.”

“Oh.” Twoie huffed. “There’s the difference, I guess.”

“Okay, then, Denim’s me if I went to therapy at fifteen instead of… not at all, I guess?” Steven shrugged. “P is me… if… uh… I dunno? I wore frilly clothes?”

P flushed. “They aren’t mine. And I don’t like them.”

“Then why do you wear them?”

P frowned.

Denim looked over. “Are you still on Homeworld…?”

P nodded grimly. Denim sighed and patted his leg in support. “I’m sorry… if you need someone to talk to, I’ll be here.”

“Same.” Twoie said. “I think we  _ all _ know that pain.”

All Twoie’s except Strawberry and 420 nodded. Strawberry looked confused while 420 just looked saddened.

Steven frowned. _Right..._ P was still on Homeworld, pretending to be someone he wasn't... A Diamond, maybe? Somebody named Pink? Steven didn't fully understand everything that went on those nights that he helped him, and he wasn't trying to think too hard about it either. It was probably future stuff he wasn't supposed to know, but apparently every him here knew about it, too? Why was he the only one kept in the dark about these things...?

“Hey, what happened to the good vibes back there?” His Dad asked with a smile, trying to cheer them up. “C’mon, y’all, let’s turn up the radio and have fun! This is a road trip!”

He tuned the radio to a rock station and cranked up the volume, starting to sing in hopes of getting everybody to join in.  


_ " _ _Ch-ch-ch-ch-check it out now! I’m a tidal wave, don’t know where I’m going to!"_ He sang, then pointed to Steven, who smiled and continued.

  


Greg burst into the motel room, eight kids and luggage in tow. 420 and Tats leapt for the bed immediately, P sat on the other bed, and SB joined 420 and Tats after a few seconds, playing around with them.

“Whoa! Okay, we gotta check for bugbugs you guys!” Greg said, rushing up to them. 

Hero, Denim,and Twoie came in after, carrying all their luggage.

Greg finished checking the bed and sighed. “Okay, you kids can bounce all you want now.”   
  
“YEAHHHHH!!!” 420 shouted, leaping on the bed with more recklessness than necessary and bouncing upwards, laughing and floating up to the ceiling. Tats hopped on and laughed at him, poking his stomach while he was up there. 420 stuck out his tongue and kicked downwards. “Hey!!! No poking!”

“No kicking!”

Strawberry giggled watching them. Twoie rolled his eyes. 

“You guys act like five year olds.”

420 and Tats both blew a raspberry in his direction. Strawberry laughed and did the same. 

Twoie groaned. “I’m gonna unpack.”   
  
“Okay, buzzkill!” 420 shouted. 

“Alright, kids!” Greg announced, cutting the tension. “I’m off to see a man about a tunnel brush! Don’t get too crazy, okay? Or no diner tomorrow!”   
  
_ “Awwwwe!”  _ Hero, Strawberry, 420, and Tats said childishly. Greg chuckled, getting ready to leave. He paused.

“... If I don’t come back in an hour, call the police, okay?”   
  
“Don’t die!” 420 shouted. 

Greg snorted. “I’ll try not to.”

He left.

420 flopped down from the ceiling and onto Tats with an ‘oof.’ 

Twoie rolled his eyes. “Hey, can you guys actually help us unpack?”

“Yeah, I can.” 420 said.

“...”

“...”

Twoie huffed. _ “You know what I meant.” _   
  
“Whoa, don’t get angry.” Hero said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Listen, guys, please unpack your own belongings.”

“Who gets the beds?” P asked. 

“Dad should get one.” Denim said. “And then Steven can get the other.”

“But that bed’s a double!” P protested. “I want it, too.”

“That’s up to Steven who he sleeps with. Steven?”

Steven shrugged. “I don’t really mind. But if you guys are going to fight over it, then we can all just sleep on the floor.”

“No, no, you get the bed.” Denim said. “We can sleep on the floor.”   
  
P huffed. “But  _ I  _ want the bed!”

“You have a bed  _ every  _ night, P.” Tats said. “You’re in Rose’s Room.”

“I _guess_ but that doesn’t mean I still don’t want it.” P huffed poutily.

“We’ll decide later.” Hero resolved, tossing P his bag. “Now unpack. All of you.”

P groaned and started unpacking, the rest following along shortly after. 

After he was done unpacking, 420 turned on the TV. Steven covered his ears as the TV blasted through the room. The Stevens started to protest and 420 winced, desperately turning it down. 

“Sorry! Accident!” He said, smiling sheepishly.

“Oh, I  _ bet _ .” Twoie sneered.   
  
420 furrowed his brows. “What’s _that_ mean? Why would I turn it up that loud??”

“‘Cause you’re  _ so  _ funny.”

“Oh, thank you.” 420 said sarcastically, narrowing his eyes.

“I was being sarcastic.”

“So was I.”

“Can we go two seconds without you guys fighting?” P asked bitterly.

“Maybe. If buzzkill stops being a jerk.”

“I am  _ not  _ a jerk!”

“I don’t know why I even asked.” P groaned, burying his face in a pillow

“Guys, seriously, shut up.” Hero said. 

They huffed. 420 turned back to the TV.

Steven kicked his feet, dangling off the bed with P and Strawberry on it. He leaned against Strawberry, getting his attention.

“Why’re they so mean to each other?” He asked.

Strawberry shrugged and signed something Steven couldn’t make out. Steven gave him a look that conveyed this and Strawberry sighed, getting out his phone and typing: ‘ _ I don’t know. Maybe their personalities just don’t mix well. It happens.’ _

“But we’re all the  _ same _ !” Steven said. “Do similar personalities not mix?”

_ ‘Probably.’  _ Strawberry signed. 

“Mm.” Steven sighed. “Well, I hope they stop bickering soon…”

He heard a few  _ thwacks _ and looked up, watching as 420 and Tats hit each other with pillows. 

“You’ll never win!” 420 announced dramatically, shoving the pillow in Tat’s face. Tats kicked him and slapped the pillow across his face, then shoved him off the bed. “I have the high ground, 420!”

“Not for long!”

420 leapt up to the ceiling, thunking against it and rattling the fan, the lights flickered and the glass around the fan fell, shattering on the carpet. P screamed. 

420 floated down quickly, dropping his pillow. “Oh my god.”   


_“REALLY!?”_ Twoie yelled, whirling on him. “420, WHAT IS _WRONG_ WITH YOU!?”

"It- it was an accident!" 420 protested, backing away from the glass. "I-I didn't m-mean..."

“Listen, I get that you’re too high to really  _ care _ but dad isn’t rich right now! This is gonna cost him!”

420 flared up, offended. “S- Shut up! I care! What do you have against me anyways!? What, am I too  _ abnormal _ for you!?”

“I APOLOGIZED!”   


“AND SO DID _I!”_   


_**"GUYS!"**_ Denim shouted, putting himself between them. They backed up, silenced.

Denim sighed. “Okay… Now, listen, both of you quit fighting, okay? Twoie, 420 didn’t mean to do that and we can fix this. 420, Twoie already apologized for his comment. Both of you, apologize to each other for being mean, then work together to clean this up, please.”

“Why should I?” 420 retorted, voice cracking a bit.

“Because if you don’t, I’m sure this is just going to continue all night and Dad will be upset. Not to mention, Steven hates us fighting.”

They glanced to Steven, who was sitting quietly, uncomfortable.

“... Yeah.” He mumbled. “Please don’t.”

420 and Twoie sighed. “Okay, Steven, for you.” Twoie said, shaking 420’s hand. 

“Sorry...”

“Sorry.”

420 hopped off the bed as Twoie kneeled down and they both began to fix the glass dome with their spit, being careful not to cut themselves. Hero and Tats joined in helping, and once they were done, Hero flew up and reattached it.

“There, like nothing happened.” He smiled, floating back down. 

“Yeah.” Twoie said. “...”

"Why do you guys not like eachother?" Steven asked from the bed quietly.

Twoie frowned. "... Um..."

It seemed nobody had an answer.

Steven sighed and leaned against Strawberry, who patted his back.

"... Well," Tats said. "I like 420."

"And I like you." 420 said back to him.

"I think Denim's nice." Hero said.

Strawberry nodded in agreement.

...

P crossed his arms, and Twoie looked down. Hero furrowed his brows in confusion and looked around.

Steven looked at the three of them and back at 420, Tats, Denim, and Strawberry.

"What about them?" He asked. Tats flushed, scratching the back of his neck and looking at the three of them.

"I haven't spent much time with any of you, to be honest..." He said sheepishly. "Um... B-but uh-- Hero, I think the control you have over your powers is... impressive. E-even if I don't agree with the fact that you're using them all the time-- you haven't, like, hurt anybody, so that's cool. Just, y'know, don't encourage Steven."

"I know." Hero said. "I wouldn't do that. I... uh... I know how dangerous it can be."

Tats' eyes widened and he shared a look with Hero. Hero looked away, not responding to it.

Strawberry got P's attention and signed something to him. P frowned and scooted forward, putting up his hands and signing 'repeat?'

Strawberry gasped and signed 'you know sign?'

P smiled. 'no, but I learn.'

"For you." He finished. "Sorry, I don't know the sign for that."

Strawberry beamed and hugged him, pulling back and signing 'thank you!'.

P signed 'you're welcome' and hugged him back.

Steven looked over at Twoie. Twoie was still hiding away from everybody, hurt obvious. Steven frowned and got up, hugging him. Twoie startled and looked down. "Huh?"

"I think you're nice." Steven said, squeezing him. "Even if you're not nice all the time and to everybody, I still like you."

Twoie smiled. Denim put a hand on his shoulder.

"We're all stressed out." He said. "So... I don't blame you for being a little prickly. Also I... I should apologize. For teasing you earlier. That wasn't cool."

Twoie shrugged. "It's alright. I kinda deserved it."

He kneeled down and picked up Steven, giving him a big hug. "I'll try and be nicer for you, Steven."

Steven smiled. "Thanks, Twoie."

Everyone looked around and smiled at eachother, a warm feeling encompassing the room and dissolving the negativity from earlier.

"Hey!!!~" Greg opened the door, carrying a couple pizza boxes. "Who wants pizza!?"

Tats, 420, Hero, Strawberry, and Steven perked up.

"YEAH!!!" 420 cheered.

The group of five raided Greg of his pizza, leaving the man laughing as they flopped down and opened up the boxes.   
  
“SQUARE PIZZA!?” 420 and Tats shouted, fake gagging.

Steven laughed. Back to normal, it seemed. 

Twoie chuckled a bit and sidled up next to 420, outstretching his hand. “Mind if I…?”

“Of course!” 420 said, handing him a slice. Twoie smiled and bit into it.

Hero leaned against the wall, looking up at his father. “How’d it go, Dad?”

“Well, he wasn’t an axe murderer, so that’s good.” He joked. “Did you guys have fun?”

“Yep.” He smiled. “By the way, that bed is yours.” He pointed to the left bed. Greg sighed in relief.

“Oh thank goodness, I thought mine could’ve been the one they’re eating pizza on.”

Hero chuckled. “We wouldn’t do that to you.”

Greg smiled and ruffled Hero’s hair. Hero smiled. “Dad!!!”

“What? You're my son, it’s what I do.” Greg smiled. Hero’s eyes shined and he hugged him. He hugged him back.

Steven smiled warmly as he watched the exchange before going back to dinner.

The next morning, they all went to the diner and ate a good breakfast, chatting away. There was no fighting and anything that seemed like a fight was shut down quickly. Steven was  _ very _ happy about that, and had a great time.

On their way back, the more chaotic Stevens (420, Tats, Strawberry, and Hero) ended up sleeping in the back while the rest just chilled out on their phones or talked with eachother. It was a nice trip back, with the low radio playing their ambiance. Steven found himself staring out of the window, the nice warm feeling of spending time with loved ones still washing over him as he saw the landscape roll by.

“Y’know… at first this was really weird.” His dad said, getting the attention of everyone. ”But… you all  _ are _ really just Steven but big. Even if you guys are different, and I don’t really understand  _ how _ you’re here… you’re good kids.”

Greg smiled back at them. “And good sons, too.”

Twoie, P and Denim stared up at him, and broke out into smiles.

"Dad..." Twoie put a hand over his heart, tearing up.

P hugged him, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "You're a good dad, too, dad!"

Greg laughed, accepting the hug. Steven hugged him too. After a few moments, he pushed them away.

“Alright, alright, enough hugging! I’m still driving, y’know.” He smiled. Steven gave him one last hug before settling down in his seat, happy as can be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys my fics haven't been getting a lot of support and it makes me want to give up on the fics I write! such as this one. if you like this fic, your kudos aren't enough for me to realize it. tell me what u think in the comments-- it doesn't have to be anything big, but me and pixel are doing this for free in our own time and if i dont get support for it, i stop and move on to stuff that DOES get support. so! support this pls and COMMENT! otherwise this fic is going to be discontinued. 
> 
> AND IF UR TOO SHY TO COMMENT, you can send me your thoughts ANONYMOUSLY on my tumblr!!! SUTIMETRAVELAU! send me smthn there or smthn here, both count for me :)

**Author's Note:**

> Updates will come every other Thursday :) But some Thursdays might be skipped because comics take a while! So be patient please :)


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